If the plan is approved, an acquisition deal between Vietbank and Cho Dui Co Ltd, a member of Hoa Lam Corporation and developer of LIM II Tower, shall be concluded in the second half of the year, according to news website Vietnam Finance.

Notably, Tran Thi Lam, chairwoman of Hoa Lam Corporation, is the wife of Duong Ngoc Hoa, chairman of  Vietnam Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Vietbank). Hoa Lam Corporation is a co-founder of Vietbank, contributing 35% of the bank’s capital in 2007.

This year, Vietbank seeks to increase its total assets by 16% to VND48 trillion and targets a 27% increase in capital mobilization and VND31.9 trillion in outstanding loans, an 11% increase.

The bank targets only VND97 billion in pre-tax profit this year, equivalent to one third of last year, in case it has to comply with a credit growth rate of 11% assigned by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

If Vietbank is allowed by SBV to revise up credit growth to 32%, its pre-tax profit shall amount to VND300 billion, up 14% year-on-year.

Vietbank also intends to issue nearly 91 million shares for its current shareholders and 9.7 million shares for staff at VND10,000 per share to add VND1,007 billion to its chartered capital.

All VND1,007 billion from the share issue shall be used to invest in property and expand the network in line with SBV’s regulations on fixed assets investment of credit institutions.

Vietbank reported VND263 billion in pre-tax profit last year, a 3.7-fold increase compared to 2016.

As of end-2017, the bank’s total assets were estimated at VND41.53 trillion, up 13% compared to early 2017. Credit reached VND28,713 billion, up 9%, and deposits totaled VND31,302 billion, up 3.7%.