Vietnam International Bank (UPCoM stock code: VIB) will spend nearly VND270 billion to pay 2017 cash dividends to its shareholders. For many years, VIB has been consistently paying cash dividends to shareholders of the bank.
In, October 30, 2018, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) approved of VIB’s paying 2017 dividends in cash at the rate of 5%, equivalent to VND265.3 billion.
Previously, the Board of Directors of VIB announced the decision to close the list of shareholders to receive 2017 cash dividends on November 8. The dividends payment date will be December 10, 2018.
The 5% cash dividend was agreed by VIB’s shareholders in March-end 2018. VIB is one of few banks which are consistent with paying cash dividends for shareholders in many consecutive years with dividend payout ratio of 5-9%. The bank issued more than 564 million of stocks owned by above 5,000 shareholders, in which 3,100 shareholders are VIB’s staff, accounting for 62%.
In October-end 2018, VIB’s 10-month profit before tax reached VND1,956 billion, up 187% year-on-year, fulfilling 98% of the full-year target. Accumulated revenue increased by 47% year-on-year, in which interest income and non-interest income up 49% and 40% , respectively. VIB continues to become one of the biggest retail banks in Vietnamese market as the bank’s accumulated individual lending reached VND69,000 billion, up 55% year-on-year.
In October 30, 2018, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the baseline credit assessment (BCA) and adjusted BCA of VIB to B1 and Counterparty Risk Assessment (CRA) to Ba3. The upgrade in VIB’s BCA is driven by the higher Macro Profile of Vietnam, progress in writing off legacy problem assets and profitability of the bank, according to a report from Moody’s. Moody’s and VIB expect profitability for the bank to improve well in coming time.