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February 23 will be the last registration day to receive bonus shares from Prosperous Development Commercial Joint Stock Bank (PG Bank – Code: PGB). Accordingly, PG Bank will issue 120 million bonus shares to existing shareholders at a ratio of 10:4, meaning that for every 10 shares owned, investors will receive an additional 4 newly issued shares.
The capital for issuing bonus shares is taken from the accumulated undistributed post-tax profit (VND 1,100 billion) and additional reserve funds for charter capital (VND 100 billion) according to the audited financial statements of 2022.
If successful, the charter capital of PG Bank will increase from VND 3,000 billion to VND 4,200 billion. Previously, the State Bank of Vietnam had also approved PG Bank to increase its capital through issuing shares to the existing shareholders.
This is the first time in nearly 13 years that PG Bank has increased its capital, and it is also the first time in nearly 12 years that the bank has distributed dividends/bonus shares.
In 2011, the bank had increased its charter capital from VND 2,000 billion to VND 3,000 billion through issuing new shares to pay dividends and issue shares to existing shareholders. The most recent time the bank distributed dividends was in 2012 at a rate of 10.38% in cash.
It is known that the government had requested the major shareholder of PG Bank, Petrolimex, to divest from the bank many years ago. Therefore, Petrolimex cannot contribute more capital to the bank through dividend distribution in shares. Meanwhile, PG Bank is not yet qualified to distribute dividends in cash due to outstanding debts at VAMC. Therefore, the dividend distribution activities of PG Bank have been continuously suspended for over a decade.
On April 7, Petrolimex divested all of its capital in PG Bank by successfully selling 120 million PGB shares, equivalent to 40% of PG Bank’s stake, through a public auction at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE).
The list of successful bidders includes 3 organizations and 1 individual. These three organizations hold almost equal amounts of PG Bank shares, below 13%, totaling approximately 120 million shares, equivalent to the amount Petrolimex put up for auction.
After undergoing a change of shareholders, PG Bank has made a series of changes in terms of personnel, bank name, headquarters, and brand identity.
In addition to the above-mentioned bonus share issuance, PG Bank also plans to issue an additional 80 million shares to existing shareholders at a distribution ratio of 15:4, meaning that for every share owned, investors will be entitled to 1 right and for every 15 rights held, they will receive 4 newly issued shares. The issuance price has yet to be announced by the bank. However, at the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting in 2023 in October, the bank estimated that this price would not be lower than the face value.
Recently, on December 19, the State Bank of Vietnam also decided to allow PGBank to change its name from Petrolimex Petroleum Joint Stock Commercial Bank to Prosperous Development Commercial Joint Stock Bank. At the same time, the bank changed its abbreviation to PGBank (the old abbreviation was PG Bank).
In addition, PG Bank also changed its main headquarters location to HEAC Building, 14-16 Ham Long, Phan Chu Trinh Ward, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi. Previously, the bank’s headquarters was located at Floors 16, 23, 24 of Mipec Building, 229 Tay Son, Nga Tu So Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi.
