Hanoi (VNA) – Several commercialbanks have in the early days of 2017 posted positive business performance for2016, with profits much higher than the previous year.

The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) was the first bank toreport pre-tax profit in 2016, which hit a record high of 8.2 trillion VND (362million USD). Its profit surged by 23.4 percent against 2015 andalso exceeded the bank’s target for the year by 2.7 percent.

In 2016, Vietcombank mobilised nearly 600 trillion VND from its depositors, up19.4 percent from the previous year, while lending an estimated 470 trillionVND, up 18.9 percent.

Vietcombank Chairman Nghiem Xuan Thanh said in 2016 the bank brought its rateof non-performing loans (NPLs) to 1.44 percent, down four basis points comparedwith the end of 2015.

The bank’s capital adequacy ratio, which measures its capital to its risk, was10.29 percent, higher than the minimum of 9 percent set by the State Bank ofVietnam.

On solid ground in 2016, Vietcombank has targeted a pre-profit figure of 9.2trillion VND in 2017, 12 percent higher than last year.

The bank also expects its total assets to rise by 11 percent in 2017, while ithas forecast that its credit growth and capital mobilisation will be 18 percentand 15 percent, respectively. The bank aims to keep its NPLs under 1.5 percent.

The Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank)also reported a high profit of 8.25 trillion VND in 2016, 4 percent higher thanthe plan set by the bank’s general meeting of shareholders.

Nguyen Van Thang, Vietinbank Chairman, said that as of December 31, 2016, thebank’s total merged assets were estimated at 947 trillion VND, up 22 percentfrom the previous year; while total mobilised capital reached 862 trillion VND,up 21 percent.

Also in 2016, the bank’s total outstanding loans posted 720 trillion VND, ayear-on-year rise of 18 percent, fulfilling the set target. Credit structurewitnessed positive transfer with credit for prioritised industries growing 22.4percent, higher than the common credit growth of the whole system.

By the end of 2016, the bank continued to effectively manage the quality ofassets with bad debt ratio of less than 1 percent.

Le Duc Tho, General Director of Vietinbank, said in 2017, the bank set a targetof a 15-17 percent rise in total assets and an 18 percent increase inoutstanding credit.

In addition, it strives to control the quality of debts, manage the bad debtratio and ensure profit growth to achieve or exceed the year’s plan set by thegeneral meeting of shareholders.

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) also estimated apre-tax profit of 7.5 trillion VND in 2016, a rise of 7 percent against theprevious year despite its deduction for the risk provision fund being quitehigh. In the first nine months of 2016, BIDV spared nearly 7 trillion VND forthe fund, jumping 80 percent year-on-year.

Positive results of BIDV in 2016 came from optimistic credit growth. Its totalloans reached over 935 trillion VND, in which 758 trillion VND was offered toeconomic institutions and individuals, up 17.85 percent compared with 2015,while its deposits totalled 939 trillion VND, up 20.45 percent. The bank couldcontrol its bad debt ratio to 1.47 percent of total outstanding loans over thepast year.

Meanwhile, many other banks also surpassed their 2016 pre-tax profit targets,such as ACB, VPBank, Techcombank and VIB.-VNA