UPDATE 1-Vietnam's ACB assets double from year ago

(Recasts, adds share price, details)

HANOI, April 11 (Reuters) - Vietnam's fifth-largest lender, Asia Commercial Bank ACB.HN, said asset growth accelerated in the first quarter, rising 17 percent from end of 2007 to 100 trillion dong ($6.3 billion).

The Ho Chi Minh City-based bank nearly doubled its assets from a year ago to 50.33 trillion dong.

ACB reported unaudited gross profit of 501 billion dong in the first three months of this year, or 20 percent of its earnings forecast for the whole of 2008, it said in a statement on the bank's Website (www.acb.com.vn).

The statement gave no annual percentage change for first quarter profit but last year ACB reported pretax profit of 413 billion for the first quarter of 2007.

Shares in ACB closed down 2.9 percent at 93,700 dong on Friday, valuing the bank at $1.54 billion, the largest among 132 companies listed on the over-the-counter Hanoi stock exchange .HASTCI.

Standard Chartered (STAN.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) owns 8.56 percent of ACB, the largest stake of four foreign shareholders which together hold a combined 30 percent.

ACB, the sole listed bank on the Hanoi market, has projected its total assets will increase 69.8 percent to 145 trillion dong and loans will grow 85 percent to 59 trillion dong this year.

Earlier this week the bank published its audited results for 2007, showing net profit more than tripling to 1.76 trillion dong as loans jumped 87 percent to 31.81 trillion. ($1=15,957 dong) (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Jan Dahinten)