Some commercial banks have reported high profits in the first nine months of the year thanks to a restructuring effort which focuses on services instead of lending as previously done. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Some commercial banks have reported high profits in the first nine months of the year thanks to a restructuring effort which focuses on services instead of lending as previously done.

According to financial reports released recently, the Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Foreign Trade of Việt Nam (Vietcombank) posted profit of VNĐ4.5 trillion (US$200.357 million) in the first nine months, up 13.6 per cent year-on-year.

Of the total, services made up $521 billion, up more than 18 per cent. Securities business also represented VNĐ203 billion.

Vietcombank’s profit was nearly equal to that of the Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Industry and Trade of Việt Nam (Vietinbank) and the Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BIDV), although its total outstanding loans in the period were less than VNĐ440 trillion, equal to only two-third of Vietinbank and BIDV’s.

Last year, services also accounted for 30 per cent of Vietcombank’s profit.

The same trend was seen in Techcombank, which reported profit of VNĐ279 billion from services in Q3 and VNĐ911 billion in nine months.

With the contribution from services, Techcombank posted net profit of more than VNĐ2 trillion in Q3 and VNĐ6.23 trillion in nine months, up 29 per cent and 21 per cent year-on-year, respectively.

The financial report from the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) also showed that the bank posted profit of VNĐ236 billion from services in Q3, helping the bank make total profit of VNĐ415 billion in the period, up 15.5 per cent year-on-year.

ACB general director Đỗ Minh Toàn said his bank is boosting services with a focus on financial services and individual customers.

According to independent expert Đinh Thế Hiển, while lending has shown signs of risk due to a rise in non-performing loans, increasing revenue from boosting services would help banks achieve healthy and sustained development in the future. — VNS