ACB targets 16 per cent credit growth in 2025

ACB targets 16 per cent credit growth in 2025

Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) successfully held its AGM 2025 on April 8, during which shareholders approved the bank’s business plan and other key matters for the year 2025 – a pivotal year in ACB’s 2025–2030 five-year development strategy.

ACB's AGM 2025. Photo: ACB

ACB has set a target pre-tax profit of VND23 trillion ($890.7 million) for 2025, a 9.5 per cent increase over 2024, driven by sustainable growth together with strong risk management and control of asset quality.

The bank also approved a 25 per cent dividend payout, comprising 10 per cent in cash and 15 per cent in shares–marking the fifth consecutive year of maintaining a high dividend, including three years of cash payouts, reflecting effective business performance, commitment to ensuring shareholders’ highest interests, and meeting shareholders’ expectations.

Tran Hung Huy, chairman of the Board of ACB speaking at AGM 2025. Photo: ACB

Speaking at the meeting, Tran Hung Huy, chairman of the Board said, “ACB has concluded its previous five-year strategy with notable achievements–tripling profits and delivering consistently high and balanced dividends. Looking ahead, the Vietnam’s economy and financial market would face various challenges in terms of increasing competition and stricter compliance requirements. To meet our strategic goals, ACB will continue to invest in infrastructure and new technology to enhance efficiency and strengthen risk control, with a focus on safety and security.”

In 2025, ACB remains committed to its vision of becoming a leading retail bank in both scale and profitability, strengthening the foundation for the 2025–2030 development strategy.

The key business targets in terms of growth include total asset growth of 14 per cent, deposit growth (including valuable papers) of 14 per cent, and credit growth of 16 per cent. With the strategy of balanced credit growth, while retail banking remains a core strength, ACB will also focus on corporate banking, particularly leading enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises.

Tu Tien Phat, CEO of ACB speaking at the meeting. Photo: ACB

In response to shareholders' inquiries regarding the impact of economic developments on ACB’s 2025 business targets, Tu Tien Phat, CEO of ACB said, “Despite economic challenges, including recent US tariff policies, ACB remains committed to its 2025 credit growth targets. Preliminary estimates for Q1/2025 show credit growth exceeding 3 per cent, deposit growth above 2 per cent, and a slight decline in the non-performing loan ratio to 1.34 per cent, indicating effective operational and risk management.”

In 2025, ACB will continue to expand credit and deposit growth, while emphasising asset quality control, boosting fee-based income–particularly in cards and international payments, and investing in subsidiaries to diversify financial product offerings and to better contribute to group performance. The bank will also enhance its digital banking capabilities, encourage technological innovation, and adopt modern, secure digital solutions in operations and transactions.

In 2024, ACB achieved a pre-tax profit of $813.2 million, ranking among the top 7 banks with profits exceeding $774.5 million and in the top 3 most profitable private banks. With 2024 business performance, ACB achieved its targets for the 2019–2024 period of becoming the leading retail bank in Vietnam nearly, with tripled profit and consistent return on equity (ROE) of above 20 per cent.

As of end-2024, total assets reached $33.5 billion, increasing by more than 20 per cent year-over-year, and 7 per cent above target. Loans to customers totalled $22.5 billion, representing a record 19.1 per cent credit growth–well above the industry average and the highest in the bank’s performance in a decade.

Beyond business results, ACB actively supports national policies and State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) initiatives, offering competitive lending rates and launching preferential housing loans for young customers. The bank also facilitates fast and convenient access to banking services by simplifying loan procedures, and enabling online disbursement.

ACB is also among the 10 banks selected by the SBV to pilot the Internal Ratings-Based approach for credit risk and capital management–an important step towards aligning with international Basel standards and strengthening the bank's risk management framework.

In the most recent credit rating updates, Moody’s maintained ACB’s outlook at "Stable," while Fitch Ratings upgraded the bank’s outlook from "Stable" to "Positive" in 2024.

Domestically, FiinRatings assigned ACB the highest rating among rated banks with a long-term issuer rating of "AA+" and a "Stable" outlook.

In March 2025, ACB was named one of Vietnam’s Top 10 Best Banks by Decision Lab (exclusive partner of global research firm YouGov) and was one of the few banks to see an improvement in brand health score.

As a pioneer in sustainable finance, ACB also introduced its sustainable finance framework and disbursed $155 million in 2024 to support businesses aligned with sustainable development goals.

VIR