The Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Bank (HDBank) plans to increase its total asset value from the current 99.525 trillion VND (nearly 4.62 billion USD) to 120.882 trillion VND (5.61 billion USD) this year.

The target was approved the bank's shareholders at its annual general meeting held in HCM City on April 18.

The shareholders also approved many other important growth targets in this year's business plan, including an 11 percent increase in outstanding loans, pre-tax profits of 830 billion VND (36.52 million USD), increasing capital mobilisation by 11.5 percent to 76.950 trillion VND (3.57 billion USD); keeping bad debt under 3 percent; keeping the bank's Return on Assets (ROA) ratio at around 0.6 percent and its Return on Equity (R0E) ratio at 8 percent.

Chairwoman Le Thi Bang Tam said that to realise these targets, the bank would closely follow the State Bank of Vietnam's guidelines and restructure itself by reviewing and consolidating its operations in all aspects. It would also closely cooperate with partners to create dramatic improvements in the administrative work and business activities, she said.

"The bank will focus efforts on developing new products and services, studying customer demands in greater depth to do so. We will continue to push settlement of bad debts, using provisions to handle risks in line with current regulations, and closely controlling newly arisen debts."

Other important tasks that HDB plans to do this year is to integrate further into international financial market, strengthen co-operation with foreign partners including Credit Saison and Hyakyo Bank, and seek potential strategic partners, the chairwoman said.

Making the necessary preparations for listing its shares on the domestic exchange is also part of the bank's action plan, she said.

Shareholders appreciated the bank's business results for 2014.

The bank and its subsidiary companies recorded a combined pre-tax profit of 700 billion VND (32.48 million USD); a year-on year increase of 15.4 percent in terms of total asset value to 99.525 trillion VND (4.62 billion USD) ; and a 16 percent growth in capital mobilisation. Its outstanding credit balance was 54 trillion VND (2.51 billion USD) in 2014, up 10 percent over 2013.

The bank kept the bad debt ratio at 1.4 percent, ROA at around 0.6 percent and ROE at 6.9 percent, shareholders were told.-VNA