Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - News of many banks planning topay dividends, especially cash dividends, have attracted attention frominvestors in the first month of the new year.

Techcombank proposed an annual cash dividend payment of at least20% of total profit, equivalent to 4-5% of the bank's equity at the beginningof the year, an estimated 1,500 VND a share for 2024.

Techcombank performed strongly in the last quarter of 2023 anddelivered on all components of our full-year financial guidance, said JensLottner, Techcombank CEO.

"I am confident that our transformation strategy andestablished market-leading digital capabilities mean that Techcombank iswell-placed for the future. We will submit to the upcoming AGM the proposal fora cash dividend policy, as a part of our continued long-term value creation forshareholders," he added. 

In 2023, Techcombank's profit before tax reached 22.9 trillion VND(930.3 million USD), exceeding the plan of 22 trillion VND approved by theGeneral Meeting of Shareholders in April 2023.

Previously, the Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank(VIB) was the first bank to announce cash dividends this year. 

VIB has decided to spend more than 1.5 trillion VND to advance thecash dividends in 2023 for existing shareholders at a rate of 6%. Accordingly,shareholders who own 1 share will receive 600 VND. The expected dividendpayment time is February 21, 2024.

The bank's leaders at the 2023 Annual General Meeting ofShareholders said that if there are no restrictions from competent authorities,VIB expects to be able to pay dividends of over 30% of the profit aftertax achieved in 2023.

According to the financial model and feasibility forecast, VIB isexpected to achieve profit after tax of 8.64 trillion VND last year, whileits undistributed profits as of December 31, 2023 are expected to reachnearly 9.2 trillion VND.

Last year, VIB had two dividend payments in March and May withdividend rates of 10% and 5%, respectively. It also paid stock dividendsto increase charter capital at a rate of 20%.

The bank issued an additional 7.6 million ESOP shares toemployees in June 2023. VIB's charter capital accordingly increased to nearly 25.4 trillionVND.

Similarly, Ngo Chi Dung, Chairman of the Board of Directors ofVPBank, said at the 2023 annual general meeting of shareholders that withVPBank's potential, the bank will pay cash dividends for five consecutiveyears and be allowed to pay at the rate of 30% of annual after-taxprofits to shareholders.

In 2023, VPBank spent nearly 8 trillion VND to pay dividendsto shareholders. The lender plans to carry out cash dividend distributionsin the upcoming years earlier, specifically in the first half of the year, inorder to meet the shareholders' desires for the bank's profit allocation plan.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tien Phong Commercial JointStock Bank (TPBank) Do Minh Phu stated that if business operations arefavourable and achieve significant growth, the bank will continue to pay cashand stock dividends to shareholders in the future.

"The dividend payout ratio will be considered by the Board ofDirectors from time to time, but the cash portion will account for asignificant amount," Phu said.

Last year, TPBank disbursed about 4 trillion VND to pay cashdividends to shareholders at a rate of 25%.

HDBank, Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) andMBBank also distributed a portion of cash dividends in 2023.

For shareholders, the cash dividend distribution reflects thestrength of the banks, indicating a solid capital foundation and translatinginto tangible returns on their long-term investments.

However, banks are also encouraged to distribute dividends in theform of shares to bolster their capital and strengthen their financial resilienceagainst future risks./.