Successfully mobilized more than 4,300 billion VND through issuance...

In the context of the capital market showing signs of recovery but still facing many uncertainties, since the beginning of the year, Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) has implemented a plan to mobilize capital through individual corporate bonds in the first half of the 2025 plan. This is considered a strategic move to restructure medium- and long-term capital sources, while expanding credit space in the second half of the year.

Accordingly,ACB has successfully mobilized more than VND 4,300 billion through this channel. Specifically, as of mid-May 2025, ACB has successfully issued 5 individual bond lots with a total value of VND 4,300 billion. In which, the bonds all have a term of 2-3 years, interest rates ranging from 5.4% to 5.8%/year, depending on the fixed or floating form.

Prospects and challenges for ACB

Notably, all issued bonds are unsecured, non-convertible, non-warranted and not included in Tier 2 capital. Most recently, on May 9, ACB issued VND500 billion worth of bonds coded ACB12505, with a 2-year term and a fixed interest rate of 5.4%/year (information from the Hanoi Stock Exchange). This is the 5th batch of bonds issued by ACB since the beginning of the year.

The four previously issued bonds include: ACB12504 issued on April 25 worth VND800 billion, ACB12503 issued on April 18 worth VND500 billion; ACB12502 issued on April 10 worth VND1,000 billion and ACB12501 issued on March 26 worth VND1,500 billion.

Notably, most of the issued bonds have an early redemption clause – showing that ACB is prioritizing flexibility in debt management and liquidity management.

Bond lots successfully issued by ACB since the beginning of the year

In the context of mobilization interest rates tending to increase slightly again due to inflationary pressure and monetary policy adjustments from state banks, ACB's choice to issue bonds with fixed and floating interest rates shows prudence but at the same time proactive management of capital costs.

According to financial experts, ACB's bond interest rates are still attractive compared to the general level, especially when compared to banks with the same credit rating. The fact that the bank does not use collateral and does not include bonds in Tier 2 capital shows that the bank does not depend on this source of capital to increase its capital safety ratio, but mainly to restructure medium- and long-term capital and support its credit expansion plan.

The plan to mobilize a maximum of VND 20,000 billion through bonds is part of ACB's medium-term financial orientation in 2025, aiming to: Ensure a balance between short-term and medium- and 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 the financial report for the first quarter of 2025, ACB's credit balance is growing by 9.2% over the same period, and maintaining a bad debt ratio of less than 1%. However, the rapid increase in credit scale requires the bank to proactively source medium-term capital to ensure the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) according to the regulations of the State Bank.

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

However, the challenges in the second half of 2025 are not small. Pressure from the international market, increased capital costs and exchange rate fluctuations may affect investor sentiment. On the other hand, allocating capital from bonds effectively - especially in the context of the State Bank tightening lending to real estate and high-risk sectors - will also be a problem that needs to be solved by ACB.

In another development, ACB has just announced that May 26 is the last registration date to close the shareholder list to pay 2024 dividends in cash and shares. Accordingly, on June 5, ACB will pay cash dividends at a rate of 10%/share, meaning that shareholders owning 1 share will receive 1,000 VND in dividends. With 4.46 billion shares in circulation, ACB plans to spend 4,466.6 billion VND to pay dividends.

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

This is the plan approved by the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on April 8. After the issuance, the bank's charter capital will increase from nearly VND45,000 billion to a maximum of more than VND51,300 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-tien-vong-va-thach-thuc-voi-acb-252761.html