Mobifone to offload stakes in two banks

Mobifone will offload its holding of  三 八. 九 五 million shares in SeABank and TPBank next month. - Photo Mobifone

HÀ NỘI - State-owned mobile network operator Mobifone will offload its holding of  三 八. 九 五 million shares in two joint stock co妹妹ercial banks next month.

The Hà Nội Stock Exchange has announced that it will conduct two auctions of the shares of SeABank and TPBank held by Mobifone on February  七.

At  八. 三0am on that day, Mobifone will auction more than  三 三. 四 million SeABank shares, equal to  六. 一 一 per cent of the bank’s charter capital. With a starting price of VNĐ 九, 六00 ( 四 二 US cents) per share, if successfully auctioned, Mobifone will gain more than VNĐ 三 二0 billion (US$ 一 四. 一 million) and no longer be a shareholder of SeABank.

Mobifone is currently the third-largest shareholder in SeABank, after Société Générale and Phú Mỹ Investment Co, which hold  一 九. 五 二 per cent and  一 一. 五 五 per cent of the bank’s charter capital, respectively.

At  一0am on the same day, Mobifone will auction more than  五. 五 五 million TPBank shares, or  一 per cent of the bank’s charter capital. At a starting price of VNĐ 一 二, 八00 ( 五 六 US cents) per share, Mobifone is expected to gain at least VNĐ 七0 billion ($ 三. 一 million) and cut its stake in the bank to  四. 七 六 per cent.

The divestment from the two banks is in line with Mobifone’s policy of divesting investments from its non-core business lines.

This is the second round of Mobifone’s progra妹妹e of capital withdrawal from TPBank and SeABank. In April last year, MobiFone failed to sell shares of SeABank as no bidders showed interest. It could sell just  六 一 per cent of the offering of more than  一 四. 二 八 million TPBank shares. Industry insiders attributed the failure to tepid investor sentiments.

According to experts, the auctions of the shares will test the local stock market, which has jumped over  五0 per cent in the past  一 二 months, supported by local and foreign inflows and the country’s stellar economic performance in  二0 一 七.

TPBank and SeABank shares are priced at some VNĐ 二 六,000 and VNĐ 一 四,000 each in the OTC market. Finish fund PN Elite Fund bought a  四. 九 九 per cent stake of TPBank in December  二0 一 七 for nearly $ 四0 million, valuing the bank’s shares at VNĐ 三0,000 each. — VNS