The State Bank of Vietnam’s net purchase of foreign currencies exceeded 11 billion USD in the first half of 2018, increasing the nation’s foreign exchange reserves to approximately 63.5 billion USD.
The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) posted over 7.72 trillion VND (336.2 million USD) in pre-tax profit in the first half of 2018, up 52.7 percent year on year.
Healthy domestic banks should focus on improving the transparency in their audited financial statements to attract foreign investors as some banks have recently succeeded with the strategy, experts suggested.
Despite the current increasing foreign investment inflows, merged and acquired banks will consider selling stakes to foreign investors after completing the restructuring to up the attractiveness of sales, bank officials said.
The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) continued its impressive performance in the first quarter of this year, posting pre-tax profit record high of more than 4.3 trillion VND (189.4 million USD).
The Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) has pledged to finish settling all of the 100 trillion VND (4.38 billion USD) of its bad debts in five years, instead of 10 years as stated in the restructuring plan approved by the State Bank of Vietnam.
Many banks were estimated to meet 25-30 percent of their annual profit targets by the end of March, although the first quarter is usually the most sluggish for banks.
The Government Inspectorate (GI) will conduct 25 crucial inspections this year, including scrutiny of the central bank’s implementation of a restructuring project in the past five years.
The profits of many domestic banks in the first quarter of this year are estimated to rise higher than that of the same period last year thanks to significant credit growth.
Some foreign banks have assured that they will retain their presence in Vietnam after withdrawing capital from some Vietnamese partners recently, noting that the country is still an attractive market.
The largest local commercial bank, Vietcombank (VCB), has set to increase their profit to between 12.5 trillion VND (548.7 million USD) and 13 trillion VND (570.7 million USD) in 2018, up about 15 percent against 2017, said VCB Chairman Nghiem Xuan Thanh.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc lauded Vietinbank and Vietcombank for their business performance last year and encouraged them to make greater efforts to contribute to the fulfillment of Vietnam’s socio-economic development.
Vietnam’s stock market is expected to rise further after the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday and even throughout 2018, boosted by positive macro economic development as well as support of foreign traders
Some Vietnamese banks have made meaningful progress in the resolution of legacy problem assets, a positive credit for the sector, Moody’s said on February 5.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued a document asking credit institutions and branches of foreign banks to push the resolving of non-performing loans in 2018.
Speeding up restructuring and settling bad debts to improve the bank’s health are two major goals of Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) in 2018, said Chairman Duong Cong Minh.
The Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) reported its pre-tax profit of 405.7million USD in 2017, equivalent to 105 percent of its yearly plan, heard a conference in Hanoi on January 16.
Non-performing loans (NPLs) of credit institutions were controlled effectively in 2017, helping the NPL ratio of the entire banking system reduce to 2.3 percent from 2.46 percent in late 2016.
The banking sector’s profits were anticipated to rise significantly in 2017, driven by the handling of bad debts and the recovery of the property sector.
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