VIB’s profit up 32 per cent in first nine months

VIB has been leading the market through digitalisation and pioneering international standards

The main driver of VIB’s growth was the retail segment and digital channels.

VIB has been digitalising products and services for two years, yielding many positive results, especially during the social distancing period in the third quarter.

On September 30, VIB’s total assets were recorded at more than VND285 trillion ($12.4 billion), an increase of 16 per cent compared to the beginning of the year. Outstanding credit balance reached VND190 trillion ($8.26 billion), up 11 per cent, deposits from customers reached more than VND170 trillion ($7.4 billion), up 13 per cent, while current account savings account (CASA) saw an impressive nearly 20 per cent growth. The retail segment contributed over 85 per cent of the bank's loan portfolio, one of the best ratios on the market.

VIB's total operating income in the period reached over VND10.3 trillion ($447.83 million), with more than VND5.3 trillion ($230.43 million) of pre-tax profit, both increased by 32 per cent on-year. VIB continues to maintain its leading position in the industry in terms of operational efficiency with a ROE ratio of over 29 per cent.

The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) under Basel II was managed optimally at 10.6 per cent with a loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) of 73 per cent. Operating expenses in the third quarter were comparable to the second quarter, with the cost-to-income ratio (CIR) maintained at 39 per cent.

In Q3/2021, VIB actively supported its customers to overcome the impact of the pandemic with various policies such as reducing loan interest rates, reducing transaction fees and supporting loan structure. Besides direct interest and fee reduction packages, VIB continues to support the interest payment structure in the following quarters to help stabilise the actual cash flow of each customer.

Although this has temporarily affected Q3 business results, VIB stated that this was a reasonable and necessary policy that shows the commitment to support valued customers over the years. VIB’s proactive and well-timed support has helped customers to quickly adapt to the new normal. The majority of supported and structured customers have a repayment plan earlier than the support plan, which is expected to have a very positive impact on the bank's Q4 business results.

Pioneering IFRS to increase shareholder value and attract foreign investors

On June 30, VIB became one of the first two banks in Vietnam to complete an audit report following the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for 2020. According to its 2020 audited IFRS financial statement, VIB's equity is assessed to increase by more than VND1 trillion ($43.5 million), compared to VAS standards.

By pioneering the application of international standards like Basel II, Basel III, IFRS, VIB is highly appreciated by domestic and foreign investors, and financial institutions for its transparency. They also expressed interest in the bank's issuance, capital, bonds, capital mobilisation activities.

Breakthrough in speed and service quality through extensive digitalisation

As a leader in digital banking and digital customer experience in Vietnam over the years, VIB focuses on applying high technology such as big data, AI, and cloud computing into its transactions, bringing outstanding digital customer service to users. Recently, users can easily open payment and saving accounts, transfer money, manage their spending, and other banking services with a few clicks on the bank’s app. Especially, VIB is a pioneer in applying 100 per cent digital card opening process on its website for all credit card products.

September 2021 marked an important milestone in VIB’s digital transformation journey. The bank formed a strategic collaboration with Microsoft to deploy a multi-cloud computing platform and become one of the first banks in Vietnam to develop a multi-cloud strategy. This is a crucial stage in applying outstanding technology from the world's leading technology partner into the bank’s financial products and services and to improve the customer experience for the banking industry in general and for VIB particularly.