HDBank expects to sell a 20 per cent stake to foreign investors for $300 million in an initial public offering this month, according to Reuters. The proposed share sale puts HDBank's market capitalization at US$1.5 billion, compared to US$1.45 billion for Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank.
“HDBank is expected to list its shares on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HOSE) in early 2018,” said Le Thanh Trung, deputy general director of HDBank in a note to Reuters.
The listing o`f the bank will revalue the assets of current shareholders, including billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, vice chairwoman of HDBank and the chairwoman of VietJet, the largest private airline in Vietnam. Thao is currently 1,149th richest person on the Forbes list, with US$2.1 billion in assets. These figures will increase after HDBank lists its shares.
Despite starting its business as a small bank, HDBank has grown strongly and joined the group of large private banks with the total assets of nearly VND180 trillion (roughly US$7.933 billion).
Trung said that the bank has focused on individual clients and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in order to increase its profitability by an average of 35 per cent per year over the past five years. In the coming years, its profit is expected to increase by 25 per cent per year.
Currently, HDBank has about 4.5 million individual customers and 25,000 SME customers. The bank also has the opportunity to reach 20 million customers from VietJet and HD Saison, a finance joint venture with Japan's Credit Saison.
This year, HDBank expects to reach VND2.4 trillion (roughly US$105.77 million) in pre-tax profit which is forecasted to strongly increase to VND3,900 billion (roughly US$171.88 million) in 2018. In the first nine months of this year, the bank recorded nearly VND2 trillion (roughly US$88.14 million) in pre-tax profit, a threefold increase year-over-year.
