Dam Nhan Duc, head of Research & Corporate Development at MB, received the honour at the VLCA 2022

At the latest annual Vietnam Listed Company Awards 2022 (VLCA) Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) was honoured in the top 10 listed companies with the largest market capitalisation with excellent annual reports.

This is a prominent annual award co-hosted by the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, the Hanoi Stock Exchange, VIR and Dragon Capital, with the participation of four leading auditing and consulting firms: Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC, to ensure accuracy and professionalism in the selection process.

This year marks the 15^th anniversary of this prestigious annual award, with 557 listed firms competing for more than 50 honours in three main categories: Annual Report, Corporate Governance, and Sustainability Report.

In 2022, the organiser also voted for the prominent listed company with the most effective greenhouse gas emission control – one of the most important elements in the manufacturing industry.

The VLCA’s independent assessment board also highlights the importance of international standards implementation and practices on corporate governance to build a transparent, sustainable business model to weather the economic and political conflicts, energy crisis, and inflation.

Representatives from the top 10 large-cap listed companies with the best annual reports at the VLCA 2022

MB’s presence in the list of "Top 10 Best Annual Reports – Large-Cap Group in 2022" attests to the positive transformation of the bank’s annual report, with the detailed addition of sustainable development, responsibility for environmental protection and social security, and compliance with corporate governance criteria according to domestic and international practices.

This demonstrates the uniformity and consistency in the bank’s policy and processes and the improved governance at MB, which has moved closer to global standards.

In addition, MB and its subsidiaries have been audited by renowned auditing and consulting firms, illustrating their healthy financial indicators at the highest standard of transparency.

In recent years, MB's annual report has undergone significant revisions to become one of the most trustworthy and transparent information sources for shareholders and investors, helping to improve Vietnam's stock market by increasing the value of the bank’s brand.

MB eyes digital transformation

Corporate governance at MB is geared toward constant construction and improvement in accordance with best-in-class management principles and international practices. Since its inception, MB has been among the top commercial banks in Vietnam, largely thanks to the bank’s prominent business performance provided by its commitment to sustainable governance practices.

By providing a wide range of digital banking services, from e-payment, online shopping, and other services to fulfil customers’ demands, MB has strengthened its position as a market leader even in times of uncertainty. This results from a long-term strategy approved by the MB’s Board over five years ago. The MB Group has set its strategic objectives of building a comprehensive digital ecosystem with the mindset of operating like a digital business through novel innovations such as Agile and Design Thinking methods.

Thanks to its digital approach, MB has attracted more than 18 million users across its two App platforms, MBBank and BIZ MBBank. Approximately 94 per cent of financial transactions occurred via its digital platforms, equaling a 145 per cent increase compared to the pre-pandemic level. These impressive figures are on pace with the digital transaction rates of the top Asian banks.

For MB to achieve a significant customer base breakthrough in the face of challenging market volatilities, digital transformation is considered a crucial step. A total of 9.4 million users downloaded the MBBank app in 2021, a 3.1-fold increase from the year before.

The number of digital banking transactions surged by 4.3 times, and the number of new clients joining MB in a single year is almost on par with the total over 26 years. MB's actions in the digital transformation process were validated by the fact that the number of individuals using the MBBank App increased dramatically in the first 10 months of 2022, up 1.6 times compared to 2021.

"Compared to 380 million transactions in 2021, we have surpassed 1 billion transactions on our digital channels this year. MB also ranks first in market share for the number of transactions conducted via Napas,” an MB leader said.

Furthermore, thanks to continuous testing and research on customer experience, MB has been successful in deploying a wide range of advanced products and services, satisfying user preferences, such as 'pretty' digital accounts, phone number-like accounts, e-payment with VietQR, and most recently MB Hi Collection card line with 2-in-1 features (ATM and credit).

To complete key strategic goals in the new phase, continue affirming the position of Top 3 in Vietnam's banking market in terms of efficiency, and aim to be the top in Asia, MB plans to earn about VND12 trillion in revenue and VND45 trillion in profit in 2026, which is 2.5 to 3 times higher than in 2021.

By the end of Q3/2022, MB's business results continued to be in the top of commercial banks and closely followed the bank’s 2022 plan approved by the General Meeting of Shareholders. Specifically, in the first nine months of the year, the bank's total assets increased 8.3 per cent compared to the end of 2021, while MB’s outstanding loans witnessed an uptick of around 17 per cent.

A decent capital adequacy ratio (11.3 per cent) was maintained, exceeding the Basel II minimum requirement. Meanwhile, the non-performing loan ratio of 1.04 per cent was kept under tight control, and the bank's NPL coverage ratio was 288 per cent. Return on equity of 26.4 per cent and return on assets of 2.8 per cent closely follow the targets established for the year and place the bank among the best performers among Vietnamese and regional financial institutions.