The Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) is negotiating with foreign partners to sell a stake in excess of 50 per cent.

CEO Vo Tan Hoang said prior to the bank’s annual general meeting (AGM) on April 18 that it is in the process of negotiating with foreign partners after being given in principle approval for the sale. 

“SCB is looking for a foreign partner, a financial group, to help it improve its financial capacity, accelerate its restructuring process, and deal with its non-performing loans (NPLs),” he said.

Many shareholders raised questions regarding a host of issues at the AGM. One of the hottest topics of discussion was the disquiet felt by many shareholders about the Board of Management adopting a rude attitude regarding dividend payments.

Chairman Dinh Van Thanh told the AGM that SCB is in the process of restructuring after , so a dividend payment is not possible. 

“SCB’s profit as well as other financial indicators have met targets over the last few years,” he said. “SCB’s current goal is to devote all of its resources to restructuring, making provisions towards stable and sustainable development.”

Bank leaders said that distributing profits as dividends is not a priority at the moment. In the short term, shareholders may find it not to their liking, especially small shareholders, but the long-term benefits will be greater.

 In particular, major shareholders and foreign investors have seen potential in the long-term development of SCB and bought shares in two capital increases in 2013 and 2015 and will certainly buy shares for the next increase in charter capital to VND16 trillion ($703.7 million), to take place this year.

VN Economic Times