ABBank appoints sixth general director in 5 years

Since 2018, An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ABBank) has changed its general director six times.

The bank has just announced the appointment of Le Thi Bich Phuong, deputy general director, to assume the duties of acting general director, replacing Nguyen Manh Quan from January 30, 2023.

Phuong, 47, has 19 years of experience in the field of finance and banking, and has held various professional and managerial positions at the bank like regional director in Hanoi, southern sales and distribution director, head of personal banking services, and a member of Techcombank's executive board in the transition period of 2016 - 2020.

In December 2022, she was recruited by ABBank's board of directors and appointed deputy general director.

The general director position at ABBank can be considered the "hotseat" in the system, given that over five years six people have held the position.

Specifically, in January 2018, ABBank's board accepted Cu Anh Tuan's resignation from general director for personal reasons. He was replaced by Nguyen Manh Quan to assume the duties of acting general director.

In May 2018, ABBank appointed a permenant new general director, Duong Thi Mai Hoa, the former CEO of Vingroup.

In October 2018, Pham Duy Hieu was appointed deputy general director, taking over the duties of acting general director and replacing Duong Thi Mai Hoa.

In April 2020, the general director position at ABBank was transferred to Le Hai.

However, after less than two years, he submitted his resignation, prompting ABBank's board to reappoint Nguyen Manh Quan as acting general director.

At the end of January 2023, the position switched for the sixth time when Le Thi Bich Phuong was assigned to assume the duties of acting general director, replacing Nguyen Manh Quan.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, ABBank was one of the very few banks that reported negative profits. In 2022, ABBank's pre-tax profit reached VND1,703 billion ($72.62 million), down 13% year-on-year and reaching 55% of its target.

ABBank's pre-tax profit decreased due to losses from business activities and securities investment with losses of VND57 billion ($2.43 million) and VND22 billion, respectively, while in 2021, profit was nearly VND500 billion. In addition, ABBank also increased provision for risks by 13% to VND776 billion ($33.1 million).

As of December 31, 2022, ABBank's bad debt ratio was 2.9%. Notably, bad debts in group 5 (debts likely to lose capital) increased sharply by 62% compared to the end of 2021. ABBank's bad debt coverage ratio is currently quite low, only 43%, among the lowest in the system.