Successfully raised over 4.3 trillion VND through issuance...

Amidst signs of recovery in the capital market, but still facing many uncertainties, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) has implemented a plan to raise capital through private corporate bond issuance during the first half of 2025. This is considered a strategic move to restructure medium- and long-term capital sources, while expanding credit capacity in the second half of the year.

Báo Đắk Nông•16/05/2025

Accordingly,ACB has successfully raised over 4,300 billion VND through this channel. Specifically, as of mid-May 2025, ACB had successfully issued 5 tranches of private placement bonds with a total value of 4,300 billion VND. These bonds all have maturities of 2-3 years, with interest rates ranging from 5.4% to 5.8% per year, depending on whether they are fixed or floating.

Successfully raising over 4,300 billion VND through bond issuance: Prospects and challenges for ACB. — Prospects and challenges for ACB

Notably, all issued bonds are unsecured, non-convertible, without warrants, and are not counted as Tier 2 capital. Most recently, on May 9th, ACB issued 500 billion VND worth of bonds (code ACB12505), with a 2-year maturity and a fixed interest rate of 5.4% per annum (information from the Hanoi Stock Exchange). This is the 5th bond issue by ACB since the beginning of the year.

The four previously issued bond tranches include: ACB12504 issued on April 25th worth VND 800 billion, ACB12503 issued on April 18th worth VND 500 billion; ACB12502 issued on April 10th worth VND 1,000 billion and ACB12501 issued on March 26th worth VND 1,500 billion.

Notably, the majority of the issued bonds include early redemption clauses – indicating that ACB is prioritizing flexibility in debt management and liquidity operations.

In the context of deposit interest rates tending to rise slightly again due to inflationary pressure and monetary policy adjustments from state-owned banks, ACB's choice to issue bonds with fixed and floating interest rates demonstrates caution while proactively managing capital costs.

According to financial experts' analysis, ACB's bond interest rates remain attractive compared to the general market, especially when compared to banks with similar credit ratings. The fact that the bonds are not secured by collateral and are not included in Tier 2 capital indicates that the bank does not rely on this source of funding to increase its capital adequacy ratio, but primarily aims to restructure its medium- and long-term capital sources and support its credit expansion plans.

According to the plan, raising up to VND 20,000 billion through bonds is part of ACB's medium-term financial strategy for 2025, aiming to: Ensure a balance between short-term and medium-to-long-term capital; Optimize the capital maturity structure according to Basel II/III; Prepare resources for sustainable credit programs, especially lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and green credit.

According to its Q1/2025 financial report, ACB's loan portfolio is growing by 9.2% year-on-year, while maintaining a non-performing loan ratio below 1%. However, the rapid growth in credit volume requires the bank to proactively secure medium-term capital to ensure the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) meets the requirements of the State Bank of Vietnam.

Accordingly, the bank also faces prospects and challenges such as: The successful implementation of 5 bond issuances at the beginning of the year by ACB shows the attractiveness of bank bonds to institutional investors, especially in the context of potential risks in the credit channel and the stock market.

However, the challenges in the second half of 2025 are significant. Pressure from international markets, rising capital costs, and exchange rate fluctuations could affect investor sentiment. On the other hand, allocating bond capital effectively – especially in the context of the State Bank of Vietnam tightening lending to real estate and high-risk sectors – will also be a problem that ACB needs to solve.

In other news, ACB has just announced that May 26th is the final registration date for shareholders to receive dividends for 2024 in cash and shares. Accordingly, on June 5th, ACB will pay cash dividends at a rate of 10% per share, meaning shareholders owning one share will receive 1,000 VND in dividends. With 4.46 billion shares outstanding, ACB expects to spend 4,466.6 billion VND to pay dividends.

Regarding the stock dividend option, ACB plans to implement it at a rate of 15%, equivalent to issuing a maximum of nearly 670 million shares. The ratio is 100:15, meaning shareholders owning 100 shares will receive 15 new shares.

This plan was approved by the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in 2025, held on April 8th. After the issuance, the bank's charter capital will increase from nearly VND 45,000 billion to a maximum of over VND 51,300 billion. The expected completion time is in the third quarter of 2025.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/huy-dong-thanh-cong-hon-4-300-ty-dong-qua-phat-hanh-trai-phieu-trien-vong-va-thach-thuc-voi-acb-252761.html