Massive profits slated for finance and banking sector in 2018

Vietnam's finance and banking sector saw a substantial recovery showcased in past achievements and ambitious targets in for 2018

Nguyen Duc Vinh, CEO of VPBank, asserted that the bank's shareholders approved the plan to reach VND10.8 trilllion ($474.12 million) in pre-tax profit by the end of 2018.

Previously in 2017, the bank's pre-tax profit hit VND8.13 trillion ($356.9 million), which was 65 per cent higher than the same category in 2016 and equivalent to 120 per cent of the latest adjusted expected profit in June 2017, posting the highest profitability score in the bank's history since 2012.

Over the same time period in 2017, the bank managed to raise its charter capital from VND9.181 trillion ($403.04 million) to VND15.706 trillion ($689.49 million).

Vo Tan Hoang Van, CEO of SCB, noted that in 2018, the bank targets a profitability growth of 36.85 per cent, equivalent to VND224 billion ($9.83 million). Expected total assets increased by 9.69 per cent, commensurate with VND487.043 trillion ($21.38 billion).

Additionally, the bank planned to raise its charter capital to VND16.6 trillion ($728.74 million) by the end of 2018 and to VND18 trillion ($790.2 million) by the end of 2019.

Van further added that the bank secured large service charges and sales revenue from stock trading—VND871 billion ($38.23 million) and VND626 billion ($27.48 million), respectively—over the course of 2017, which in turn allowed SCB to efficiently resolve bad debts

Nguyen Le Quoc Anh, CEO of Techcombank, disclosed the bank's business plan for 2018, stating that the bank expected to achieve 20 per cent growth in sales revenue and VND10 trillion ($439 million) in pre-tax profit, which would be equivalent to a 24 per cent growth against 2017.

The bank also aims to achieve VND315.184 trillion in total assets, an increase of 17 per cent against 2016, 40 per cent growth in capital mobilisation; 18 per cent growth in credit; as well as maintaining the ratio of bad debts under 2 per cent.

In 2017, Techcombank gained a pre-tax profit of over VND8 trillion, which was 200 per cent of the previous year's pre-tax profit figure and 400 per cent of the same category in 2015.

Nirukt Sapru, CEO in the ASEAN and South Asia regions of Standard Chartered Bank, highlighted that in comparison to the last five years, the Vietnamese finance and banking sector witnessed a substantial overall "healthy" recovery, which previously earned recognition from global rating organisations, including Moody's, offering positive support to the country's economic growth in the next five years.