HANOI, June 25 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories. FINANCIAL NEWS: LAO DONG -- Vietcombank is expected to make 2.45 trillion dong ($137.6 million) in its first half gross profit, meeting 70 percent of its annual plan, Chairman Nguyen Hoa Binh said. The bank is scheduled to make a share debut on June 30 at a starting price of 50,000 dong per share. THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM -- Saigon Hanoi Bank <SHB.HN> forecast a 42.5 percent increase in its assets this year to 20.5 trillion dong and expected gross profit to reach 336 billion dong, 74.4 percent of which came in during the first five months. -- Partly private VP Bank expected its January-June gross profit to reach 160 billion dong, or 57.5 percent of its annual target, Chief Executive Nguyen Hung said. ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS: NHAN DAN -- The state budget's income between January 1 and mid-June reached 171 trillion dong, or 43.9 percent of the annual projection, while budget expenditures in the same period stood at 197.5 trillion dong, making up 40.2 percent of the yearly target, the Planning and Investment Ministry said. QUAN DOI NHAN DAN -- June's consumer price index rise of 0.55 percent from May is due to price hikes for essential goods such as fuel, said Nguyen Duc Thang, deputy head of the General Statistics Office's Trade and Price Deparment. HANOI MOI -- The Hanoi Stock Exchange <.HNXI>, which launched a trading platform for shares of unlisted companies on Wednesday, is also scheduled to trade in government bonds from July. LAO DONG -- Vietnamese medical laboratories are facing an overload of work with samples pouring in for tests for the H1N1 flu virus, officials said. TUOI TRE -- Saigontourist planned to buy a hotel in San Francisco for $44 million in its first major investment in the United States, Chief Executive Nguyen Huu Tho said. -- Police said they would deport 182 illegal Chinese workers from a cement factory in the southern province of Dong Nai. THANH NIEN -- The number of H1N1 cases have risen to 63 spread across 10 cities and provinces, health officials said. THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM -- Italian scooter maker Piaggio SpA <PIA.MI> has officially opened its first factory in Vietnam with an annual capacity of 100,000 vehicles. (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom)
A tourist from Vietnam poses with Saint Bernard dog Salsa at the Great Saint Bernard mountain pass at an altitude of 2,473 metres (8,114 ft.) in the southwestern Swiss Alps June ...
