BNP to lift stake in Vietnams Oricombank to 15 pct

BNP’s stake could increase to 20 percent with the Vietnamese government’s permission, the Ho Chi Minh City-based bank said in a statement about the agreement, which was signed on Wednesday.

In July, Oricombank’s chief executive said the bank could sell up to 10 percent more of its shares to the French shareholder by the end of the year.

Vietnam caps foreign ownership of its banks at 30 percent, with a 15 percent limit for a strategic investor. Foreign strategic investors can own 20 percent subject to government approval.

Oricombank, or Phuong Dong Commercial Bank, said it expected to achieve 70 percent of its annual profit target for 2009 of VND255 billion by the end of this month.

Taking into account the stake sales to BNP Paribas expected this year, Oricombank planned to raise its registered capital by 35.6 percent to VND2 trillion.

Vietnam’s largest partly private bank, Vietcombank, is among the largest shareholders in Oricombank, with an 8.69 percent stake.

HSBC Holdings Plc has so far been the only foreign bank to acquire 20 percent of a domestic bank, Hanoi-based Techcombank.