The commercial banking system in Vietnam has four members reaching over 1quadrillion VND in total assets, including Vietcombank, Agribank, BIDV and Vietinbank. (Photo: Vneconomy.vn) Hanoi (VNA) - As of December 31, 2017, the total assets of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) reached 1.05 quadrillion VND (46 billion USD).
This makes it the fourth bank of Vietnam possessing total assets exceeding 1 quadrillion VND.
Vietcombank is the focal point of purchasing nearly 5 billion USD in the State capital’s divestment at Saigon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) on December 29, 2017.
This transaction, equivalent to 110 trillion VND, pushed Vietcombank’s total assets to exceed 1 quadrillion VND only a few days before the end of 2017, two years earlier than the targeted plan in 2020.
Till date, the commercial banking system in Vietnam has four members reaching over 1 quadrillion VND in total assets, including the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and Vietcombank.
This is also the "Big 4" group of State-owned commercial banks, of which, only Agribank has not been equitised yet. This group currently holds around 50 percent of outstanding loans and deposits of the entire banking system.
Together with the total asset size, this is the first time the local banking system has seen its official membership’s before-tax profit exceeding 10 trillion VND.
Specifically, according to 2017’s data, Vietcombank is the first commercial bank to exceed this profit figure, with more than 10.8 trillion VND, a year-on-year increase of 32 percent. The profit, which service segment made up 24 percent against 20 percent in 2015-16, is expected to be the highest level in the entire banking system.
Remarkably, this profit was made after Vietcombank continued to increase its provision for risky loans in 2017 to some 8 trillion VND, which accounted for some 130 percent of the bank’s total bad debts.
Last year, although the State Bank raised credit growth target to 18 percent, Vietcombank increased only some 17.4 percent.
In the end of 2016, the bank’s retail lending ratio was only 33 percent; however, in 2017, it had risen to 41 percent and the trend may surpass 50 percent in 2018.-VNA
VNA
