PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - July 2

HANOI, July 2 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

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FINANCIAL NEWS:

LAO DONG

-- Ho Chi Minh City-based Southern Bank said it planned to issue 27.77 million new shares by August 14 to raise its registered capital to 1.71 trillion dong ($103.5 million).

-- Petrovietnam Insurance Corp PVI.HN reported 1.4 trillion dong ($84.7 million) in revenues for the six months to June 30, up 25 percent from the same period last year. Profit soared 30 percent from 105 billion dong ($6.3 million) a year ago.

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THANH NIEN

-- The central bank has stopped granting new licences for foreign exchange agents, said Ho Huu Hanh, director of the State Bank of Vietnam branch in Ho Chi Minh City.

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THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- Partly private Eximbank has handed the shareholder's certificate to Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (8053.T), which became Eximbank's biggest foreign shareholder with a 15 percent stake valued at $225 million.

-- The Ministry of Finance has set the dong lending rate for the state's investment credit at 12 percent per year.

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ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

VIETNAM NEWS