Prime Commercial Bank to tie up with a Vietnamese bank after Tihar

ShareSansar, October 4:

Prime Commercial Bank Limited is all set to tie up with a Vietnamese commercial bank.

Officials from Prime Commercial Bank are heading to Vietnam shortly after Dashain to finalize the joint venture with Bank Pe Vietnam, which is expected to be completed soon after Tihar.

The deal will give 51 percent of Prime Bank shares to the Vietnamese side.

Officials of both the banks are expected to discuss the joint venture with the Nepal Rastra Bank once they finalize the deal, according to a report published in Nagarik daily today.

“We are yet to hold the final round of negotiation with the Vietnamese bank,” Prime’s CEO Narayan Das Manandhar said. “For the joint venture, they need to pledge investment fund, besides capital.”

Manandhar further said as raising the paid-up capital was not the overarching objective of his bank, Prime has put forward investment fund as well as expansion of the business as the conditions for the proposed joint venture.

However, he was quick to add that the Vietnamese partner has already pledged investment fund and technical support. “A few technicalities remain before the final deal,” he added.

Prime Commercial Bank’s profit had risen by an impressive 78.06 percent in the last fiscal year of 2069/70.

The bank earned a profit of Rs 47.97 crore in the last fiscal year as against Rs 26.94 crore reported in the previous fiscal year.

The bank’s nonperforming assets (NPA), however, rose by an alarming 193.42%, from 0.76% in the previous fiscal to 2.23 this year.

The bank’s deposits increased 20% to Rs 28.81 arba. Likewise, its loans and advances grew 12.24% to Rs 21.21 arba.