HÀ NỘI – Several commercial banks have in the early days of 2017 posted positive business performance for 2016, with profits much higher than the previous year.

The Bank for Foreign Trade of Việt Nam (Vietcombank) was the first bank to report pre-tax profit in 2016, which hit a record high of VNĐ8.2 trillion (US$362 million). Its profit surged by 23.4 per cent against 2015 and also exceeded the bank’s target for the year by 2.7 per cent.

In 2016, Vietcombank mobilised nearly VNĐ600 trillion from its depositors, up 19.4 per cent from the previous year, while lending an estimated VNĐ470 trillion, up 18.9 per cent.

Vietcombank chairman Nghiêm Xuân Thành said in 2016 the bank brought its rate of non-performing loans (NPLs) to 1.44 per cent, down four basis points compared with the end of 2015.

The bank’s capital adequacy ratio, which measures its capital to its risk, was 10.29 per cent, higher than the minimum of 9 per cent set by the State Bank of Việt Nam.

On solid ground in 2016, Vietcombank has targeted a pre-profit figure of VNĐ9.2 trillion in 2017, 12 per cent higher than last year.

The bank also expects its total assets to rise by 11 per cent in 2017, while it has forecast that its credit growth and capital mobilisation will be 18 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. The bank aims to keep its NPLs under 1.5 per cent.

The Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank) also reported a high profit of VNĐ8.25 trillion in 2016, 4 per cent higher than the plan set by the bank’s general meeting of shareholders.

Nguyễn Văn Thắng, Vietinbank chairman, said that as of December 31, 2016, the bank’s total merged assets were estimated at VNĐ947 trillion, up 22 per cent from the previous year; while total mobilised capital reached VNĐ862 trillion, up 21 per cent.

Also in 2016, the bank’s total outstanding loans posted VNĐ720 trillion, a year-on-year rise of 18 per cent, fulfilling the set target. Credit structure witnessed positive transfer with credit for prioritised industries growing 22.4 per cent, higher than the common credit growth of the whole system.

By the end of 2016, the bank continued to effectively manage the quality of assets with bad debt ratio of less than 1 per cent.

Lê Đức Thọ, general director of Vietinbank, said in 2017, the bank set a target of a 15-17 per cent rise in total assets and an 18 per cent increase in outstanding credit. In addition, it strives to control the quality of debts, manage the bad debt ratio and ensure profit growth to achieve or exceed the year’s plan set by the general meeting of shareholders.

The Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BIDV) also estimated a pre-tax profit of VNĐ7.5 trillion in 2016, a rise of 7 per cent against the previous year despite its deduction for the risk provision fund being quite high. In the first nine months of 2016, BIDV spared nearly VNĐ7 trillion for the fund, jumping 80 per cent year-on-year.

Positive results of BIDV in 2016 came from optimistic credit growth. Its total loans reached over VNĐ935 trillion, in which VNĐ758 trillion was offered to economic institutions and individuals, up 17.85 per cent compared with 2015, while its deposits totalled VNĐ939 trillion, up 20.45 per cent. The bank could control its bad debt ratio to 1.47 per cent of total outstanding loans over the past year.

Meanwhile, many other banks also surpassed their 2016 pre-tax profit targets, such as ACB, VPBank, Techcombank and VIB. - VNS