Bank struggles to recover 5,800 taels of gold loaned to a seafood company when the gold price was 17 million dong per tael.

A seafood-processing and trading company has been unable to repay a gold-backed loan taken out in 2009, according to the 2025 audit of Saigon Seafood Trading Company (APT). The borrowing was made when gold was priced at about 17 million dong per tael, and the company has also accumulated significant overdue interest and penalties.

Loan terms and escalation of the debt

The 2025 audited financial statements record a 2009 loan of 5.833 taels of SJC gold. At the time, each tael was priced at about 17 million dong, putting the loan’s value at more than 100 billion dong. In addition to the gold, APT also borrowed more than 100 billion dong in cash at an interest rate of 12% per year.

Two loan agreements were signed with Southern Bank before it merged into Sacombank in 2015. After 15 years, APT has not repaid either of the two credit agreements.

Restated value and interest payable

In the notes to APT’s 2025 audited financial statements, the gold loan—restated using the bank’s posted gold price—was valued at about 891 billion dong by year-end.

Under the credit agreements, the gold loan interest rate is 0.9% per month. For overdue debt, the rate is 150% of the loan rate, equivalent to 1.35% per month. Total interest payable on the gold loan through the end of 2025 was about 1,558 billion dong.

Legal action and auction attempts

For these two loans, on 28 April 2022 Sacombank filed a lawsuit against APT at Bình Tân District Court in Ho Chi Minh City (now the People’s Court of Region 9) regarding the loan contract dispute.

The bank requested APT settle the provisional debt as of 15 February 2022 of 1,426 billion dong, and continue to accrue overdue interest under the signed contracts. Sacombank also proposed auctioning collateral to recover the debt if APT does not pay, and noted that APT would still owe any shortfall if the asset sale does not cover the full amount.

The case has been accepted by the court, and the parties are in negotiations and mediation.

Separately, Sacombank has repeatedly put the debt up for auction without success. The most recent attempt at the end of 2025 auctioned the debt at a starting price of only 317 billion dong, far below the outstanding balance.

Ownership and corporate background

Saigon Seafood Trading Company (APT), formerly a unit under Saigon Trade Corporation (Satra), was established through a privatization process in 2006.

According to APT’s 2025 management report, Satra remains the largest direct shareholder with 30% of the capital. Somo Vietnam Group owns 41%. The board chairman, Nguyen Lam Vinh Huy—who is the investment representative for Somo Vietnam—holds about 24%. Other board and supervisory members representing Satra and Somo Vietnam hold 5%–8%.

Financial condition and audit concerns

APT’s 2025 post-audit report states that total overdue liabilities of the company as of end-2025 (including bank debts and debts to partners) were nearly 2,790 billion dong. Of this, overdue bank debt (principal and interest) accounted for about 2,749 billion dong, while other overdue debts were about 41 billion dong.

The company recorded accumulated losses of about 2,708 billion dong, resulting in negative owner’s equity of 2,619 billion dong. This is equivalent to losses more than 30 times the charter capital of 88 billion dong.

Short-term liabilities exceeded short-term assets by about 2,658 billion dong. Total liabilities were 2,814 billion dong, approximately 32 times the charter capital.

The audit concluded that these factors indicate the existence of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern. However, management stated it has developed plans to ensure cash flow and meet financial obligations, and that it prepared the financial statements on a going-concern basis.