Busy banks plan shareholders’ general meetings
According to announcements by banks, as of the moment, Vietnam International Bank (VIB) will be the first bank to hold its annual general shareholders’ meeting in 2024. VIB’s general meeting is scheduled to take place in March 2024 in Ho Chi Minh City. However, the bank has not yet revealed any further information regarding the meeting. VIB will finalise the list of shareholders attending the meeting on 26th February. Consequently, ex-right trading day will be on 23rd February.
In the same vein, Nam A Bank’s general shareholders’ meeting is planned to take place in March. According to Nam A Bank’s announcement, the meeting is scheduled for 29th March. However, the details of the meeting have not yet been announced. This bank’s final registration day will be on 28th February, and the ex-right trading day will be on 27th February.
In April, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) will be the third bank to hold a general shareholders’ meeting. ACB’s meeting is projected to take place on 4th April at Sheraton Saigon Hotel, 88 Dong Khoi Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. The deadline for shareholder registration is 1st March. Nevertheless, the bank’s website has yet to upload information about the meeting’s agenda or required motions.
Following ACB, An Binh Commercial Bank (ABBank) will hold its general shareholders’ meeting just a day later. Specifically, ABBank’s general meeting is scheduled for 8:30 AM on 5th April at the 4th-floor conference hall of GELEXIMCO Building, 36 Hoang Cau Street, O Cho Dua Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi. The last registration day for attendance is 8th March.
ABBank’s 2024 annual general shareholders’ meeting is expected to discuss issues such as the business performance report for 2023, the plan for 2024, the operational direction of the Management Board, the Supervisory Board, issues about remuneration, motions regarding fund allocation and profit distribution, the approval of the resignation of a member of the Supervisory Board, the election of a replacement member of the Supervisory Board, and other matters.
Busy banks plan shareholders’ general meetings
In April, Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB) will become the next bank to hold its general shareholders’ meeting. MSB plans to host the meeting on 10th April at 54A Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, Lang Thuong Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi. The last registration day is 8th March, and the ex-right trading day is 7th March.
National Citizen Bank (NCB) announced that its annual general meeting will be held on 13th April. The final registration day for shareholders to attend the meeting is 12th March.
Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MBBank) is set to hold its annual general shareholders’ meeting in 2024 at the National Convention Center, 57 Pham Hung Street, Me Tri Ward, Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi. The meeting is expected to take place at 7:30 AM on Friday, 19th April. MBBank will finalise the list of shareholders eligible to attend the 2024 general shareholders’ meeting from 18th January. On the same day, the bank has completed the list of shareholders eligible for election to the Management Board and the Supervisory Board for the 2024-2029 term.
Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) announced that its general shareholders’ meeting will be held on 26th April in Ho Chi Minh City. The last registration day is 14th March, and the ex-right trading day is 13th March.
The Management Board of Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Commercial Joint Stock Bank (LPBank) approved a plan to hold its general shareholders’ meeting on 27th April at Ninh Binh Legend Hotel, 177 Le Thai To Street, Xuan Thanh Urban Area, Ninh Khanh Ward, Ninh Binh City, Ninh Binh Province. Accordingly, the last registration date for shareholders and shareholder groups to nominate candidates for supplementary members of the Management Board will be 15th February. However, LPBank has not yet made detailed information about the meeting publicly available.
Among the four major banks, the Vietnam Investment and Development Bank (BIDV) is the only bank that has released information about its annual general shareholders’ meeting in 2024. BIDV’s meeting is expected to take place in the morning of 27th April.
Cash and share dividends
Apart from stock dividends, in the past two years, many banks have started to announce cash dividends, which is viewed as good news by shareholders as the State Bank of Vietnam has limited banks from doing so.
Recently, Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) revealed a long-term plan to pay cash dividends, which is expected to be presented at the 2024 general shareholders’ meeting in April. The plan is based on the bank’s business performance and profit growth in recent years.
Specifically, Techcombank plans to propose a minimum cash dividend payment of 20% of annual post-tax profits, equivalent to 4-5% of the bank’s equity at the beginning of the year, or about 1,500 VND per share. Techcombank believes that maintaining the cash dividend payment policy and ensuring a common equity Tier 1 ratio of 14-15% is entirely feasible.
Shareholders of many banks have started to receive good news as they are paid cash dividends
Previously, VIB also announced that 19th January 2024 will be the ex-right trading day to finalise the list of shareholders entitled to an interim cash dividend of 6% for 2023. With nearly 2.54 billion outstanding shares, VIB is estimated to have to pay over 1,520 billion VND for this interim dividend payout. The expected payment date is 22nd February.
In 2023, VIB also paid a cash dividend of 15% for 2022, which was divided into two provisional payments. The total dividend payment for the year reached 2,108 billion VND, increasing the charter capital to 25,292 billion VND.
Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) has received approval from the State Bank of Vietnam to increase its charter capital by a maximum of 308 billion VND through a stock dividend payout.
Before this, at Sacombank’s general shareholders’ meeting in 2023, cash dividends were approved for existing shareholders at a rate of 10% through the issuance of 30.8 million new shares.
BIDV has the lowest bad debt ratio in the industry and uses special provisions to handle bad debts, ensuring the compliance with the provisions of the State Bank.
Bac A Commercial Joint Stock Bank (BacA Bank) announced that 11th January would be the ex-right trading day, finalising the list of shareholders entitled to a stock dividend of 7.5% (with 1,000 shares, shareholders will receive 75 new shares).
Accordingly, BacA Bank plans to issue over 62.5 million shares at a 7.5% rate for shareholders. The total issuance value at par is over 625 billion VND. The funding source is accumulated undistributed profit from 2023, deducted by reserves, in compliance with legal regulations, and approved by the general shareholders’ meeting. If the issuance is successful, the bank’s charter capital will increase from 8,334 billion VND to 8,959 billion VND.
In November 2023, Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) paid a cash dividend at a rate of 10% (for each share, shareholders received 1,000 VND).
It’s worth noting that many banks paid cash dividends in 2023. For instance, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) allocated nearly 8,444 billion VND from undistributed profit to distribute dividends for 2022, of which 25% was given via stock dividend and the remaining 10% as cash.
Similarly, Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MBBank) paid dividend in both cash and stock in 2023. The bank’s general shareholders’ meeting in 2023 approved a dividend plan amounting to 9,067 billion VND, including 15% in stock (6,800 billion VND) and 5% in cash (2,267 billion VND). Furthermore, MBBank aims to continue paying dividends at a rate of 10-15% in 2023.
In addition, Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank (HDBank) completed its dividend payment of 25% in 2022, including 10% in cash and 15% in stock.
