Scores of commercial banks post handsome profits
Scores of commercial banks post handsome profits
Many commercial banks, such as the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) and Military Bank, made robust profits in the first half of this year.
Vietcombank is the first State-turned-shareholding bank to release its six-month business results. Its general director, Pham Quang Dung, said at a recent review conference that the bank had earned a consolidated profit of more than VND11 trillion (US$475 million), up a staggering 40.7% from the previous year.
Earlier, Vietcombank’s Chairman Nghiem Xuan Thanh said that the bank could fulfill its target for consolidated profit in 2019 at around VND20 trillion.
Military Bank reported that its business indicators remained strong. For example, its credit growth was high, while its credit quality continued to be closely controlled.
As a result, the bank’s total gross profit rose by 22.5% year-on-year to over VND4.3 trillion (US$185 million).
Despite the ongoing restructuring process, Saigon Thuong Tin Bank (Sacombank) posted roughly VND1.5 trillion (US$64 million) in profits in the first half of the year.
A representative of Sacombank was quoted by Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper as claiming that the bank is taking steps to reduce loans for real estate businesses but will increase loans for business production, consumer and green credits.
Also, the bank has kept a close watch on its credit quality, so the ratio of its nonperforming loans dropped to 1.96% from the previous 2.11%. Its proceeds from value-added services are up 22% year-on-year to nearly VND1.4 trillion.
Asia Commercial Bank reported its total gross profit in the first six months reached some VND3.6 trillion (US$155 million). Also, its credits and deposits grew 9% and 7%, respectively.
Among small- and medium-d banks, Vietnam International Bank posted a pretax profit jump of 58% against the year-ago period to VND1.82 trillion (US$78 million), of which its gross profit from service activities saw a sharp increase from VND315 billion in the first half of 2018 to VND715 billion in the first six months of this year.
Tien Phong Bank announced gross profit of VND1.62 trillion, almost double the figure from the same period last year. The figure was recorded after the bank had already allocated VND224 billion to its credit risk provision fund and special bonds, which are issued by Vietnam Asset Management Company to manage bad debts sold to the State-run enterprise.
In a related development, some commercial banks raised their interest rates for savings to attract capital inflows.
Saigon-Hanoi Bank has raised its interest rates for savings of nine months by up to 8.2% per year, one of the highest rates of its kind on the local market.
Its general director, Nguyen Van Le, explained that the move is intended to mobilize medium- and long-term capital, which will help make use of business opportunities for the remainder of the year.
At Vietnam Export Import Bank, the rate for three-year deposits in Vietnamese dong has been hiked to 8% per year. If its clients engage in its promotional programs, the rate will be 8.4% for the two- and three-year tenors.
As for short terms of six to nine months, the rate has been raised to 7.8%, 0.2 percentage points higher than the previous adjustment.
