HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) on Thursday officially listed more than 1.33 billion shares on the HCM Stock Exchange (HoSE).

The shares were listed at a reference price of VNĐ39,000 (US$1.72) per share.

In the first minutes of the at-the-opening-order (ATO) session, VPBank matched a total of 46 million shares with a reference price of VNĐ39,000. 

This price helped VPBank earn a record of nearly VNĐ1.8 trillion, of which, foreigners spent VNĐ1.45 trillion on purchasing more than 37 million out of 46 million shares during the ATO session.

Subsequently, the shares fluctuated from VNĐ33,000 to VNĐ36,000 per share.

At the end of the morning session, VPBank shares were at VNĐ36,000, down 7.7 per cent from the reference price. The trading volume of this stock reached VNĐ1.9 trillion, accounting for 53 per cent of the total market liquidity in the morning session.

VPBank is the 10th bank to list on the stock exchange and is the 423rd member of HoSE. It is also the private bank with the largest market capitalisation value of nearly VNĐ52 trillion.

Bank chairman Ngô Chí Dũng said VPBank marked the return of banking stocks to the stock market after nearly three years. Share listing was also a challenge in ensuring sustainable growth and business performance, he said. Besides this, VPBank was responsible for ensuring transparency of information in accordance with national and international standards, he added.

In the first seven months of 2017, VPBank posted some VNĐ4.1 trillion in pre-tax profit.

The bank has targeted pre-tax profit of VNĐ6.8 trillion for the whole year.

Next year, VPBank expects to earn net profit of nearly VNĐ8.53 trillion, an increase of over 48 per cent against 2017 and dividend will be some 15 per cent, to be paid on priority through shares.

In the next five years, VPBank plans to concentrate on four key pillars -- consumer finance, retail banking, small business credit, and small and medium enterprise credit.

In addition, VPBank will focus on the retail sector, targeting the potential market of 95 million Vietnamese people with increasing incomes. — VNS