BCEL share price not indicative of performance: Bank official

BCEL share price not indicative of performance: Bank official

Banque Pour Le Commerce Exterieur Lao (BCEL) has achieved success in its business operations over the past six months of this year, according to a senior company official.

“We have achieved success in line with our business plan and we will provide more details to the public next week,” he told Vientiane Times yesterday.

He added that the French bank COFIBRED had already completed payment of about US$18 million to the Lao government for the purchase of 10 percent of BCEL shares. The French bank signed a memorandum of understanding with the government to buy the shares at 11,000 kip per unit last month.

Mr Khamhou spoke to Vientiane Times amid a continuing drop in the BCEL share price on the Lao Securities Exchange.

The bank's share price dropped from 7,500 kip per unit on Monday to 7,400 kip yesterday. About 27,000 bank shares were traded on Tuesday with a value of about 201 million kip.

Mr Khamhou said that BCEL management has weighed the falling share price against the actual performance of the bank, adding that the profit of the company has increased in accordance with its business plan.

“The drop in the price of the bank's shares reflects unprofessional stock investment,” he said, adding that the fact that the bank is performing well should boost the price of the stock.

He said the bank's management face no pressure over the dropping share price as the company has done well over the past six months.

When asked whether rising inflation caused the price of the bank's stocks to drop, Mr Khamhou pointed out that many countries besides Laos were facing high inflation rates and therefore it should not have any impact on stock trading and prices in Laos.

According to the Statistics Bureau, inflation in Laos reached 9.52 percent in June and is on the rise in response to global trends and pressures from natural disasters, which have damaged large swathes of agricultural land in the country.

BCEL's share price reached an all time high of 15,000 kip in the first few months after it listed and dropped to a low of 7,900 kip in May, before rebounding slightly after the bank announced its first quarter profit figures.

According to the bank, the value of its assets was 11,920 billion kip as of the end of the first quarter of this year, growing by 25 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

The bank generated revenues of 188 billion kip from January to March, achieving 27 percent of its annual plan, while expenditures were 100 billion kip, resulting in a net profit of 88 billion kip.

vientiane times