Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, or Vietcombank, may make 1 trillion dong in profit from selling part of its stakes in Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank and Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Viet Nam News reported Oct. 9, citing analysts from Saigon Securities Inc.

Vietcombank is planning to auction 53.4 million Military Bank shares Oct. 15 and 45.4 million Eximbank shares Oct. 22. The divestments will lower Vietcombank's stake in Military Bank to 4.5% from 6.07%, and its stake in Eximbank to 4.5% from 8.19%.

Vietcombank will gain an estimated 607.6 billion dong in profit from selling its Military Bank shares at the initial price of 19,641 dong apiece, Saigon Securities analysts said. The estimated profit from selling Eximbank shares is 395.4 billion dong, the report said, without specifying the price of individual Eximbank shares.

The lender is selling the shares to comply with central bank rules that state commercial banks cannot hold stakes of more than 5% in each of at most two other credit institutions. Vietcombank has also divested all holdings at Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

As of Oct. 9, US$1 was equivalent to 23,279 Vietnamese dong.