Dang Manh Trung, head of the Standing Office of the Central Propaganda Department in Ho Chi Minh City, awarded the certificate to Dam Nhan Duc, head of Research and Development of MB

On September 15, the Vietnam Association of Financial Executives, Finance and Life electronic journal, and the Vietstock website co-organised an IR Awards 2022 ceremony to honour the listed companies with the best investor relations activities in 2022 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The programme aims to raise awareness of the importance of Investor Relations (IR), improve information transparency in the stock market, and increase the quality of information disclosure and investor confidence.

This year, businesses were honoured in two IR voting systems: an online vote for public investors and an internal vote for financial institutions. MB was honoured in both systems: Top 3 listed companies most loved by investors, and Top 4 listed companies most appreciated by financial institutions.

With 4.5 billion shares listed on the HSX, MB currently boasts a market capitalisation of over $4 billion and is in the Top 15 largest-cap stocks on the Vietnamese stock market.

Le Nhi Nang, director and head of the representative agency of the State Securities Commission in Ho Chi Minh City, emphasised the significance of IR for the stock market, calling it "a crucial connection between businesses and investors" that clarifies a company's worth to potential backers.

Understanding that the development of the stock market comes from the maturity of listed companies and is demonstrated through IR activities, MB always fulfils its obligations to disclose information in accordance with regulations, with analyst meetings held quarterly.

MB is currently one of the top commercial banks in terms of scale and profit in Vietnam. In the first six months of 2022, the bank achieved $966,000 in revenue and $503,000 in its pre-tax profit, up 26 per cent and 49 per cent on-year, respectively.

Profit before tax in H1 exceeded nearly 60 per cent compared to plan. Return-on-Equity reached 24 per cent, while Return-on-Assets was 2.5 per cent. The bank's bad debt ratio was controlled at 0.82 per cent, while maintaining the bad debt coverage ratio at a high level, with the bank's own coverage reaching 300 per cent.

Entering the new strategic period from 2022-2026, MB has established a vision to "Become a leading digital enterprise and financial group" to be in the "Top 3 markets in terms of efficiency, aiming to lead in Asia."

“The bank aims to serve 20 million customers by 2026,” said an MB representative. “We will continue strengthening our digital journey by deploying digital factories, building a comprehensive digital ecosystem, developing banking services and improving technology capabilities.”

In 2022, MB restructured to expand its growth. In addition, MB is always looking for new opportunities to collaborate with leading global businesses and consultancies like IBM, Prophet, and McKinsey to enhance governance in key areas like risk management and financial management.

Before the IR Awards 2022, the organising committee conducted a comprehensive survey of information disclosure activities of 736 listed companies over 12 months. At the same time, IR activities were evaluated through a scoring system from 31 leading financial institutions, with the cooperation of the investor community to vote for listed companies with the best IR activities in 2022.