Another state-owned bank, BIDV, made it to the list at eighth place, with pre-tax profit surging 87 percent to VND3.4 trillion.

The surge for the three state-owned banks follows very low figures recorded in the same period last year as a result of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Of the four private banks in the top 10 list, Techcombank ranked fifth with a 77 percent surge in pre-tax profits to VND5.5 trillion. It was followed by MBBank and VPBank, posting 108 percent and 38 percent rises in pre-tax profits to VND4.58 trillion and VND4 trillion, respectively.

Private lender ABC was in tenth place with pre-tax profits rising 61 percent to VND3.1 trillion.

Like the state-owned lenders, the four private banks experienced increase in net interest income as well as non-interest income well above the growth in operation costs and provision for doubtful debts.

Brokerage Rong Viet Securities Corporation (VDSC) has forecast the banks will continue to see profit growth in the next three quarters. However, growth would not be as high as the 50 to 100 percent plus rates of Q1.

Steelmaker Hoa Phat Group was the most profitable non-bank enterprise on the list, ranking third, up from eighth place in the same period last year.

It was the only non-bank enterprise in the top 10 that saw a growth in pre-tax profit, which tripled to VND7.7 trillion.

The steel giant has benefited from surging steel prices that have lifted its revenue for the period by 60 percent year-on-year to VND31 trillion.

The other two non-bank enterprises in the list, real estate giant Vinhomes and diary giant Vinamilk, both experienced a drop in profits.

Vinhomes reported VND7 trillion in pre-tax profits, down 30 percent, to rank fourth on the list.

Vinamilk’s pre-tax profits fell 6 percent to VND3.15 trillion as it finished Q1 as the ninth most profitable listed firm.

Two enterprises in Q1 2020 top 10 list, have fallen out – the state-owned Petrovietnam Gas Corp (PV Gas) and main airport operator Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV).

PV Gas saw its pre-tax profits fall 10 percent due to surging selling expenses and operation costs. The ACV, meanwhile, saw its pre-tax profits fall to half that of the same period las year as the pandemic hit the aviation industry particularly hard, slashing deeply the number of flights and passengers.