Saigon-Hanoi Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SHB) has announced a pretax profit of VND336.47 billion (US$18.8 million) for the first nine months of the year, 0.14 percent more than its projection for all of 2009.

In consequence, the Hanoi-based lender has raised its full-year target for pretax profit to VND405 billion and anticipates paying a 12-percent dividend for 2009.

Total assets were VND21.2 trillion as of September 30, up 47 percent from a year ago, SHB said.

The bank said it would hold a shareholders’ meeting soon to get their formal permission to raise its registered capital from VND2 trillion to VND3.5 trillion this quarter.