Clients at a transaction office of Techcombank in Hà Nội. — Photo courtesy of the bank

HÀ NỘI — Banks are presenting to their shareholders plans to distribute cash and stock dividends while issuing bonus shares to shareholders.

Dividend payments at high rates

At the end of last month, the shareholders' meeting of Nam A Commercial Joint Stock Bank approved a 25 per cent dividend distribution plan for 2023 in the form of stocks to increase capital and enhance financial capacity.

The bank aims to raise its capital to over VNĐ13.7 trillion (US$551.3 million) this year and reach about VNĐ16.2 trillion by 2025.

In 2023, Nam A Bank released over 211.6 million shares to increase its share capital, with a dividend rate of 25 per cent.

Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB) was expected to propose a dividend distribution plan with a 29.5 per cent ratio at its shareholders' meeting on April 2, including a maximum cash dividend of 12.5 per cent, a stock dividend of 17 per cent and an issuance of bonus shares to employees at a rate of 0.44 per cent.

In detail, the bank will pay dividends in two stages: an interim cash dividend of 6 per cent and a cash dividend payment of 6.5 per cent. The total dividend payment amount will be VNĐ3.17 trillion.

The Board of Directors of VIB also proposes to increase the capital by issuing bonus shares to existing shareholders and its employees.

Meanwhile, Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB) has set a target to increase its capital by an additional VNĐ4.2 trillion in 2024 through three options.

The first option involves issuing around 411 million shares to pay dividends to existing shareholders at a rate of 20 per cent.

The second option is to issue 5 million shares for employees, while the third plan is a private placement, where OCB will offer a maximum of 882,353 shares for sale.

If all three options are successful, OCB's charter capital will rise from nearly VNĐ20.55 trillion to over VNĐ24.7 trillion.

The specific timeline for implementing the capital increase phases will be determined by the Board of Directors, once approval is obtained from the relevant authorities.

Generous stock bonuses

This year, several banks in Việt Nam are taking a new approach to dividend distribution.

Instead of solely issuing stocks as dividends, they are paying both cash dividends and stock bonuses to increase their capital.

Techcombank, for example, plans to distribute a 15 per cent cash dividend and a 100 per cent stock bonus to its shareholders.

The lender’s Board of Directors will propose a 15 per cent cash dividend for 2023.

In addition, Techcombank's Board of Directors has proposed a capital increase scheme. The objective is to raise the charter capital from over VNĐ35.2 trillion to more than VNĐ70.45 trillion by issuing new shares from owner's equity.

This includes utilising undistributed profit after tax, additional reserves for charter capital and surplus capital based on the audited financial statements for 2023. The planned issuance ratio is 100 per cent, meaning that each shareholder will receive an additional 100 new shares for every 100 shares owned.

Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) plans to distribute dividends for 2023 from retained earnings, totalling nearly VNĐ19.9 trillion. The dividend rate will be 25 per cent, with 15 per cent in stock dividends and 10 per cent in cash, amounting to VNĐ9.71 trillion. This dividend ratio will also apply to 2024.

The dividend distribution will increase ACB's charter capital to nearly VNĐ44.7 trillion, with an additional VNĐ5.8 trillion and over 582 million new shares issued. The capital increase is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2024.

MBBank's Chairman of the Board of Directors, Lưu Trung Thái has revealed that the bank plans to distribute cash and stock dividends in 2024, but the exact ratio has yet to be finalised.

Last year, the bank successfully raised its charter capital from VNĐ45 trillion to over VNĐ52.1 trillion by distributing stock dividends.