Foreign investors can buy 28% stake in PGBank from Petrolimex divestment

PGBank temporarily capped its foreign ownership of 2% to support fuel distributor Petrolimex in finding buyers. After Petrolimex completes the procedures to sell its stake in PGBank, the bank will increase its foreign ownership cap to 30%.

PGBank is one of the few banks in the market that still has room for foreign ownership, while most other banks have already reached the maximum foreign ownership ratio of 30%, Cao Thi Ngoc Quynh of SSI Securities Corp, said Wednesday at an investor conference. SSI Securities is a consultant for Petrolimex’s divestment from PGBank.

“This is a good opportunity (for foreign investors) in the context that the Government may temporarily suspend licensing for 100% foreign-owned banks,” she said.

All 120 million shares of PGBank, equivalent to 40% of the stake Petrolimex holds in the bank, will be publicly auctioned at the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on April 7. The starting price is VND21,300 (US$0.9) per share.

Tran Ngoc Nam, deputy general director of Petrolimex, said that after the divestment the group will primarily invest in its core businesses: petroleum and strategic projects.

He said the divestment will be “a great success” for PGBank, because the lender’s charter capital, which is currently VND3 trillion, will increase with the participation of new investors.

The bank’s bad debt ratio is about 2.56%. Its pre-tax profit was VND506 billion last year.