Oricombank says 2007 net jumps 62.6 pct

Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Oricombank says 2007 net jumps 62.6 pct
Oricombank, 10% owned by France's BNP Paribas, said its net profit surged 62.6% last year to VND168.59 billion ($10.6 million) thanks to strong lending.
The Ho Chi Minh City-based Oricombank, also known as Phuong Dong Commercial Bank, said its audited assets jumped 82.6% last year to VND11.76 trillion, of which loans rose 62.2% to VND7.56 trillion, it said in a statement.
The statement did not say what proportion of the unlisted bank's loans was bad.
One of Vietnam's 35 partly private banks, only Oricombank and eight others have sold shares to foreign banks as they sought expertise and greater business opportunities in the country's fast-developing economy.
BNP Paribas bought its 10-percent stake in Oricombank last year and said it wanted to double it to 20 percent.
Viet Nam caps foreign ownership in a domestic bank at 30%, with a 15-percent limit for an individual strategic investor. Such a strategic investor needs government approval to increase his stake to 20%.
Vietcombank, the country's third-largest bank by assets and the first among its five-state-run banks to conduct an initial public offering last December, owns 8.7% in Oricombank.
Top brewer Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp (Sabeco) also has a 5-percent stake in Oricombank.
Oricombank has planned to issue convertible bonds to raise VND1.2 trillion this year so it could nearly double its registered capital to VND2 trillion. (Reuters)