Eximbank shares are being sold off; why?

Rumors surfaced, and Eximbank shares came under strong selling pressure at the start of the week. This development comes ahead of the extraordinary general shareholders' meeting scheduled for the end of November.

Foreign investors sold a net 5.3 million EIB shares amid rumors.

As an investor who decided to sell off EIB shares today, Ms. Minh Nguyet (36 years old, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi ) accepted a loss. "This information started spreading in the morning session, causing EIB shares to plummet. Many people were worried, thinking the price would fall even further. At the same time, I also began to question internal issues within the bank, which led to the sell-off. I also sold off a thousand EIB shares, accepting a loss," Ms. Nguyet said.

At the close of today's trading session (October 14), nearly 42.7 million EIB shares (Eximbank, HOSE) were traded, equivalent to nearly 780 billion VND, while foreign investors net sold over 5.3 million units, equivalent to 97 billion VND.

EIB became the second-largest negative-impacting stock on October 14th, with a surge in trading volume.

At the same time, EIB also became the stock with the strongest block trades of the session, with a value of VND 1,050 billion, accounting for nearly 36% of the total block trade value on HOSE.

This development is believed to stem from rumors that Eximbank's Supervisory Board had sent a written request and complaint to relevant authorities regarding the bank's unsafe lending practices.

This has a direct impact on investor sentiment, especially among investors holding EIB shares.

Eximbank speaks out

When contacted, Eximbank stated that the image of the document circulating online only shows a portion of it, and therefore the bank cannot yet confirm whether the information is accurate. The company's leadership is still checking and reviewing the matter.

Regarding business performance, in the first six months of the year, Eximbank achieved a net profit of VND 1,170 billion, a slight increase of 4.6% compared to the same period last year.

Previously, many stocks on the stock exchange experienced setbacks due to negative rumors. While it was uncertain whether these rumors were true or false, most significantly impacted market sentiment, as well as the performance and share prices of the stocks on the exchange.

Recently, in a similar situation, TCH shares (Hoang Huy Financial Services Investment Joint Stock Company, HOSE) were also sold off on August 8, 2024, when "rumors" circulated in online groups about the company being investigated by the Securities Commission for transactions during the 2021-2022 period.

Shortly afterwards, on August 9th, the State Securities Commission issued a statement clarifying that this was a routine inspection conducted in accordance with regulations for listed companies.

Nevertheless, the impact of the rumors caused TCH to fall by more than 6.74% on August 8th, to 16,600 VND/share. TCH's market capitalization "evaporated" by approximately 1,000 billion VND.

To date, TCH has recovered to the 17,000-18,000 VND/share range. However, TCH continued to fall sharply by 6.27% under selling pressure today, returning to the 16,450 VND/share level due to information about an investigation into irregularities related to land reclamation at the 275 Nguyen Trai project.

Experts recommend that investors calmly verify unofficial rumors circulating on social media.

The banking sector is experiencing significant fluctuations.

One of the major changes at Eximbank that always attracts the attention of investors and the market concerns the "hot seat" position . In just over a year, the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors at Eximbank has been changed three times.

At the end of June 2023, Ms. Do Ha Phuong, a female leader born in the 1980s, was appointed as the chairwoman of Eximbank, replacing Ms. Luong Thi Cam Tu.

However, less than a year later, on April 26, 2024, Eximbank unexpectedly announced the dismissal of Ms. Do Ha Phuong from the position of Chairwoman of the Board of Directors following her resignation; and appointed Mr. Nguyen Canh Anh to assume the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors for the seventh term (2020-2025) effective from April 26.

Regarding the power struggle at Eximbank, prior to Ms. Phuong, Ms. Luong Thi Cam Tu, the former chairwoman of Eximbank, had held this position twice. The first time was in March 2019, but the decision was not finalized before a dispute arose when Mr. Le Minh Quoc (her predecessor) filed a lawsuit, and the court ordered a halt to the appointment.

Subsequently, Ms. Tú returned to the position of chair for a second time in February 2022, at the same time that Ms. Đỗ Hà Phương was elected to the Board of Directors.

Furthermore, in just the first two weeks of October, Eximbank continued to experience significant changes in its senior management. Specifically, EIB reappointed Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai as Acting General Director for a three-year term on October 3rd. This was followed by the appointment of Mr. Pham Dang Khoa as Deputy General Director from October 11th for a three-year term.

This development comes just before the bank's upcoming extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on November 28, 2024, to discuss the change of its head office and other important matters. Unlike previous years, this meeting will be held in Hanoi, but the specific location has not yet been announced.

At the same time, another major change at EIB in the near future is relocating its current headquarters to a different location, but so far, Eximbank has not mentioned the new headquarters location.

The recent fluctuations at Eximbank began after the bank welcomed a new shareholder, who is also a major shareholder (holding 10%) - Gelex Group Joint Stock Company (GEX, HOSE). On the exchange, GEX shares also had a less than positive trading session, falling 2% to 20,800 VND/share.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/ly-do-bat-thuong-khien-co-phieu-eximbank-bi-ban-thao-ngay-phien-dau-tuan-20241014175521336.htm