Vietnam ABBank to double '08 gross profit to $29 mln

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's An Binh Bank, 15 percent owned by Malaysia's top lender Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) (MBBM.KL), said on Wednesday it has projected to more than double its gross profit this year to 465 billion dong ($29 million).

Last month Maybank said it has agreed to buy the 15 percent stake in the Ho Chi Minh City-based An Binh Bank for $135.2 million in cash and might raise it to 20 percent with the approval of the Vietnamese government.

The unlisted bank, also known as ABBank, has projected to raise its total assets by 32 percent to 22.7 trillion dong this year, the bank said in a statement sent to Reuters.

ABBank planned to raise its registered capital by 30 percent to 3 trillion dong this year and expand services to a wide range of electricity buyers of state utility Vietnam Electricity group, another strategic investor in the bank apart from Maybank.

"EVN is committed to step up in supporting ABBank in financial investment by the power sector and explore the system of 80 million customers of the electricity industry," Dao Van Hung, Chairman of EVN was quoted as saying in the statement.

Hung is also a deputy chairman of ABBank's Management Board.

Last year total assets soared to 17.2 trillion dong from 3 trillion dong in 2006, ABBank said.

($1=15,961 dong)