Eximbank H1 profit hit 10-year record high

Eximbank, with Japan's SMBC as major shareholder, reported after-tax profits of VND1,519 billion ($65 million) in the first six months of the year, 2.4 times year-on-year.

This is the first time since 2013 that the bank, one of the first joint stock commercial banks in the country, has generated H1 profits of trillions of VND (VND1 trillion = $42.84 million).

Its positive figures were based mainly on credit growth, foreign exchange business and recovery of bad loans.

In the previous 10 years, the bank's annual profit hovered at only VND1 trillion, while some others of a similar scale performed much better.

The bank's net interest income in H1 reached VND2,662 billion ($114 million), a 48% rise year-on-year, according to its financial report.

In Q2, the bank's net interest income and after-tax profit reached VND1,417 billion ($60.7 million) and VND871 billion ($37.32 million), up 44% and 2.2 times over the same period last year, respectively.

As of June, its customer loans balance hit VND122,871 billion ($5.26 billion), up 8.4% compared to the beginning of the year. The ratio of nonperforming loans ratio (NPL) was 1.88%, down from 1.96% at the beginning of the year, mainly due to a reduction in subprime and doubtful outstanding loans.

A month ago, the bank approved a resolution to pay a share dividend at the rate of 20% from 2017-2021 after-tax profits. The dividend payout is the first in eight years.

Eximbank plans to issue an additional 245.8 million shares to raise its chartered capital to VND14,810 billion ($634.5 million). This is the first time in 10 years the bank will expand its chartered capital.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), which holds a 15% stake in Eximbank, recently terminated its strategic partnership with the Vietnamese bank ahead of time, after 14 years of cooperation.

But the Japanese institution has not yet withdrawn its capital and remains a major shareholder in Eximbank, chairwoman Luong Thi Cam Tu told the bank's annual general meeting in late May.