Despite difficulties, 20 out of 27 listed commercial banks still decided to raise their charter capital in 2023. Some banks could not implement their plans, but said the process will be completed by the second quarter in 2024.

Vietnam has 12 large commercial banks with charter capital of over $1 billion, namely VPBank (VND79.339 trillion), BIDV (VND57 trillion), Vietcombank (VND55.89 trillion), VietinBank (VND53.699 trillion), MB (VND52.14 trillion), ACB (VND38.84 trillion), SHB (VND36.193 trillion), Techcombank (VND35.225 trillion), HDBank (VND29 trillion), LPBank (VND25.576 trillion), VIB (VND25.368 trillion) and SeABank (VND24.537 trillion).

If counting Agribank, the total number of commercial banks with more than $1 billion in charter capital would be 13.

Of the banks trying to raise charter capital in 2023, VPBank fulfilled this task most quickly with capital increasing by VND11.905 trillion (17.65 percent) to VND79.339 trillion ($3.26 billion).

The successful implementation of the plan helped VPBank cement its position as the No1 bank in Vietnam in charter capital, leaving BIDV, which is No2, far behind, with a VND22.334 trillion increase, and Vietcombank, which was No3, with VND23.448 trillion.

In 2023, BIDV’s charter capital increased by 12.69 percent to VND57 trillion ($2.34 billion), ranked second in the market and leading state-owned banks.

Vietcombank successfully raised its capital from VND47.325 trillion to VND55.89 trillion (+18 percent).

With a VND52.14 trillion increase (+15 percent), MB jumped to the fifth position, after VPBank, BIDV, Vietcombank, VietinBank and it is even above Agribank.

The year 2023 marked a milestone in Agribank’s development as the 15th National Assembly approved the plan to give additional charter capital to Agribank in 2021-2030.  The National Assembly resolution says VND6.753 trillion from the state budget will be used for the capital increase plan in 2023, while no more than VND10.347 trillion will be allocated to the bank in 2024.

Agribank’s charter capital had reached VND34.446 trillion as of the second quarter 2023, the lowest level among state-owned banks. If the bank can get additional capital of VND17.1 trillion as planned, its capital would be VND51.5 trillion.

Among private banks, LPBank has proved its capability successfully raising its capital to VND25.576 trillion (+8 percent) after electing a new board of directors.

However, considering the capital increase in percentages, the leading bank is OCB with a 50 percent increase to VND20.548 trillion.

Techcombank only saw its capital increase by 0.15 percent to VND35.225 trillion after issuing 5.3 million ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) shares.

Tuan Nguyen