On 10 November 2026, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Văn Thắng signed Resolution 46/2026/NQ-CP on behalf of the Government. It allows Vietnam Maritime Corporation (VIMC, ticker MVN on UPCoM) to pay a stock dividend out of its undistributed after-tax profit for fiscal 2024, once the required funds have been set aside. The resolution takes effect on 25 December 2026.VietnamPlus
The operating backdrop is healthy. In 2024 VIMC booked consolidated after-tax profit of VND 2,630 billion, up 54.5% from VND 1,702 billion in 2023, and cleared its accumulated losses. For the first nine months of 2026, consolidated after-tax profit rose a further 55.7% to VND 2,977 billion.Người Quan Sát So why does a stock dividend need a government resolution, when at most listed companies a shareholder meeting decides it? The answer lies in the Ministry of Finance's submission and in the make-up of the retained profit.
The retained profit and the payout rule
The amount to be distributed is measured on VIMC's standalone accounts, before consolidating subsidiaries. At its 2025 annual meeting, shareholders approved retaining nearly VND 1,294 billion of 2024 profit after fund allocations, with no dividend paid yet.Người Quan Sát The 2026 meeting documents split this into two parts: over VND 403 billion for the investment and development fund, and about VND 890 billion earmarked to be "handled as directed by the competent authority".VietTimes The Ministry of Finance's submission puts the exact figure at over VND 890.39 billion, equal to 65.78% of full-year after-tax profit.Người Quan Sát
The draft resolution dossier, as Báo Đầu tư reported it in July 2026, explains the obstacle. Under the rules in force at the time, VIMC did not qualify for a state capital top-up for a nationally important project, so all remaining 2024 profit after fund allocations had to be paid out in cash, and the company was not eligible for a stock dividend either. The Ministry of Finance therefore proposed that the Government issue a dedicated resolution.Báo Đầu tư
The same dossier says over VND 873 billion of that roughly VND 890 billion came from asset revaluation and has not generated actual cash. The Ministry assessed that a full cash payout would force VIMC to draw on port and shipping operating cash to pay out profit not yet collected in cash.Báo Đầu tư That is an assessment of one specific 2024 item, not a verdict on the company's earnings quality, which at the consolidated level keeps rising.
Put plainly, the general rule demanded a cash payout from profit that had largely not yet turned into cash. Resolution 46 removes exactly that obstacle: instead of paying cash, VIMC converts the profit into charter capital.
Nearly all the new shares go to the State
The resolution does not state the payout ratio, the number of shares or the amount of added capital.Điện tử & Ứng dụng The specifics sit in the Ministry of Finance's proposed plan: use over VND 840.41 billion to issue about 84.04 million shares at a par value of VND 10,000 each.Thanh Niên The remaining roughly VND 50 billion of the VND 890 billion is not used in this plan.
The split mirrors ownership. The State holds 99.5% of VIMC, so state shareholders receive nearly 83.6 million shares and non-state shareholders just over 446,000, about 0.5% of the issue.Người Quan Sát
That is why the resolution uses the phrase "additional investment of state capital". The nearly 83.6 million shares reaching the State do not come from extra budget money, but from the dividend the State would otherwise have received in cash. The Government tasked the Ministry of Finance with exercising the owner-representative role and monitoring and supervising the investment.CafeF The group of state-capital representatives was instructed to carry out the capital increase, tied to modernizing port infrastructure, digital transformation and green transition.VietnamPlus
The plan carries a cost, which the dossier states: keeping 2024 profit to pay shares reduces budget revenue in the short term, in the portion of dividends matching the State's ownership. The Ministry of Finance argues the long-term benefit is larger, as state capital in VIMC grows and the company has a bigger equity base to borrow against.Báo Đầu tư
No new money enters the company
A stock dividend only moves one line of equity into another: retained earnings fall and charter capital rises by the same amount. The plan does not directly create new cash flow.Điện tử & Ứng dụng What VIMC keeps is the cash it would have paid out in a cash dividend.
Set against the investment plan, the amount is small. VIMC's standalone investment capital need, excluding subsidiaries, is estimated at about VND 37,887 billion for 2026-2030, covering ports, logistics and the fleet.Người Quan Sát The VND 840.41 billion is only about 2.2% of that. The dossier shows VIMC can self-fund about VND 5,434 billion, leaving a gap of about VND 28,548 billion.Báo Đầu tư
So VIMC does not present the capital increase as direct funding for projects. The company estimates that each extra dong of equity could help raise another 2 to 3 dong of commercial borrowing. That is VIMC's own estimate, not a signed loan.Báo Đầu tư
The largest project in the pipeline is the Cần Giờ international transshipment port, where VIMC leads a consortium with Saigon Port and TIL, part of the MSC shipping group. Total planned investment is about VND 128,873 billion, of which the three investors' equity is about VND 19,331 billion and VIMC contributes VND 6,959 billion.CafeF
Part of 2025 profit is also awaiting a decision: about VND 291 billion is earmarked to be "handled as directed by the competent authority".VietTimes Resolution 46 covers 2024 profit only.
What happens for MVN holders
Holders outside the state sector receive shares, not cash. MVN has 1,200,588,000 shares outstanding, a market capitalization of about VND 70.8 trillion at the 13 November closing price of VND 59,000. Spreading about 84.04 million new shares over that base gives a provisional ratio of around 7%, so a holder of 100 shares would receive about 7 more. This is arithmetic from the proposed plan, not an official ratio.
Because every shareholder receives at the same ratio, each holder's ownership percentage is unchanged. On the ex-rights date, the reference price is adjusted so that total share value before and after is equal. If the ratio is exactly 7% and the price is still near VND 59,000, the reference price would fall to about VND 55,100.
One feature of MVN deserves attention here: trading is very thin. Over the 10 sessions from 2 to 13 November, daily volume ranged from only 1,400 to 26,800 shares. With only about 0.5% of the new shares going to non-state holders, the number reaching individual investors' accounts is correspondingly small.
Milestones to watch
The evidence points in one fairly clear direction: this distribution keeps resources already inside the company and brings no new money. Most of the capital for 2026-2030 must still come from borrowing and other sources, so the real value of the capital increase will be measured by the long-term loans VIMC manages to sign after its charter capital rises.
As for the issue itself, the official ratio, share count and record date will be in the documents VIMC publishes once the resolution takes effect on 25 December 2026. When they appear, two numbers are worth setting beside the submission's plan: the shares issued versus about 84.04 million, and the ratio versus the provisional 7%.