Though the fiscal year 2019 is yet to end, early reports suggest major commercial banks in Vietnam will enjoy big fat earnings this year.

At an office of Vietcombank (Source: VNA) 

In the latest announcement, Sacombank said it expects to earn nearly 3.2 trillion VND (138.32 million USD) in profit before tax in 2019, 20 percent higher than the yearly goal. The private bank has a total asset of 457 trillion VND while its total deposits and outstanding loans amounted to 413 trillion VND and 296 trillion VND, respectively. The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio dropped to 1.75 percent.

The Vietnam International Bank (VIB) also reported its profit hits a record high of over 4 trillion VND this year, a 1.5-fold increase from 2018 and 5.6 times higher than 2016. The bank’s total asset reached 180 trillion VND, up 30 percent against the end of last year.

Agribank generated 10.35 trillion VND in profit before tax in the first 10 months of the year, surging past its target for the full year at 10 trillion VND. The State-owned bank expects its profit to reach at least 11 trillion VND by the end of this year. As of October’s beginning, its total asset valued at 1.4 quadrillion VND while the deposits totalled 1.28 quadrillion VND.

In the first three quarters of 2019, Vietcombank announced profit before tax of 17.25 trillion VND, up 51.9 percent year on year and equal to 85.4 percent of the year’s plan. Though the final figure has yet to be released, it is likely that the bank will continue leading the banking sector in profit this year, at 22 trillion VND, higher than the yearly plan of 20 trillion VND.

This year, Vietinbank aims for profit before tax of 9.5 trillion VND, a year-on-year 41 percent growth, with the total asset expanding about 2 – 5 percent. At a recent meeting with the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG Bank) from Japan, Vietinbank Chairman Le Duc Tho predicted the bank’s profit will exceed the year’s plan. By the end of September, it gained over 8.45 trillion VND in profit before tax, up 11 percent from a year earlier and equivalent to 89 percent of the yearly goal.

The commercial banks’ impressive earnings are attributable to their efforts to improve net interest margin (NIM) and reduce bad debts, according to an expert from SSI Securities Corporation. In the third quarter, 12 listed banks, surveyed by the SSI Securities, had a combined profit before tax of 27 trillion VND, a year-on-year surge of 42.1 percent, largely owing to good control of operating costs and provision expenses.