Viconship Buys Over 1% of Eximbank (EIB) as Hai Phong Port Operator Builds Stake

Overview

Viconship, the Hai Phong-based container port operator, has emerged as a shareholder holding more than 1% of Eximbank (EIB) on HOSE, according to the bank’s latest updated list of investors above the 1% threshold. The disclosure adds a logistics-sector name to an ownership register already dominated by Gelex, VIX and Vietcombank, and arrives as Eximbank navigates a sharp first-half earnings decline.

Key Facts

• Viconship directly holds 18.7 million EIB shares, equivalent to more than 1% of Eximbank’s capital.
• Related parties of Viconship hold an additional nearly 1.3 million EIB shares.
• Gelex remains the only shareholder at the 10% ceiling, unchanged from the list published in April.
• VIX holds 4.83% and Vietcombank 4.51% of Eximbank; three individuals each hold above 1%.
• Viconship operates four Hai Phong ports with total designed capacity of about 2.15 million TEU per year.
• Viconship reported H1 net revenue of VND 1,722 billion and pre-tax profit of VND 381 billion, up 15% and 22% year on year.
• Eximbank’s total assets reached more than VND 266,000 billion as of June 30, with H1 pre-tax profit of over VND 678 billion, down more than half year on year.

What Happened

According to the latest shareholder list of investors holding above 1% of Eximbank, Công ty cổ phần Container Việt Nam (Viconship) is a new entrant. Beyond its direct 18.7 million EIB shares, related persons of Viconship hold close to 1.3 million additional shares. The filing does not disclose the transaction value or the timing of the purchases.

Compared with the shareholder list published in April, other investors’ ownership ratios were unchanged. Gelex remains the sole shareholder at the 10% level, though Gelex Chairman Nguyễn Văn Tuấn has stated the group will not participate in Eximbank’s management. Chứng khoán VIX and Vietcombank hold 4.83% and 4.51% respectively, while three individuals — Lương Thị Cẩm Tú, Lê Thị Mai Loan and Nguyễn Bích Huyền — each hold above 1%. Separately, at an extraordinary meeting on October 14, shareholders elected General Director Phạm Thị Huyền Trang to the board and approved lifting the foreign ownership cap from 6% to a maximum of 30% of charter capital.

Market Context

EIB closed at 16,450 on October 15, with VIX at 11,750. Eximbank, one of Vietnam’s first private banks, has seen its H1 pre-tax profit fall by more than half year on year, a performance gap that contrasts with the broader banking sector’s uneven recovery. The ownership register remains fragmented: no single shareholder holds a controlling stake, Gelex sits at the regulatory 10% ceiling, and the newly approved 30% foreign room has yet to be filled by a strategic investor.

Strategic Significance

For long-term investors, the Viconship stake introduces a logistics-industrial holder into a bank whose shareholder base has been reshaped repeatedly over the past two years. Viconship’s core business — four Hai Phong ports with 2.15 million TEU of annual design capacity and a near-24% stake in Vận tải và Xếp dỡ Hải An, Vietnam’s largest container fleet operator — is tied to trade flows rather than credit cycles, making the EIB position look financial rather than strategic-operational. The more consequential variable remains the lifted foreign ownership ceiling: a 30% cap creates room for a foreign strategic partner to enter a bank trading below the sector on profitability, while the fragmented domestic register limits any single holder’s ability to block such a move.

What to Watch

• Any further Viconship filings disclosing additional EIB purchases or board nomination intentions.
• Progress on attracting a foreign strategic investor under the newly approved 30% foreign ownership cap.
• Eximbank’s Q3 and full-year 2025 earnings, given the more than 50% H1 pre-tax profit decline.
• Gelex’s stance on its 10% holding and whether Chairman Nguyễn Văn Tuấn’s non-management commitment holds.
• VIX’s treatment of its 4.83% EIB stake in quarterly portfolio disclosures.