MBBank’s takeover of weak OceanBank to have limited impact on its credit profile: Fitch

Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank's (MBBank) takeover of Ocean Commercial Bank Limited (OceanBank) will have limited financial impact on the former’s credit profile, Fitch Ratings said Monday.

MBBank, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as MBB, officially made the state-directed transfer in October. Fitch Ratings said MBB is set to benefit from various regulatory incentives, including a higher credit quota and a lower reserve requirement, which are likely to fuel the bank's rapid growth.

Besides, Fitch Ratings upgraded MBB’s Viability Rating (VR) to “bb-“ from “b” and affirmed the bank’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at “BB.” The outlook on the IDRs is “Stable,” Fitch added.

The upgrade of MBB's VR, which reflects the bank's standalone credit profile, is driven by improvement in its capitalization. It is indicated by its Fitch Core Capital (FCC) ratio of 10.5% at end-September 2024, up from 10.1% as of end-September 2023.

Fitch said the larger capital buffer can help offset risks associated with the bank’s rapid loan growth, which is expected to be sustained over the coming years. The VR also considers MBB's improving market position as one of the largest private banks in Vietnam, with market share of about 5% of system assets and deposits, Fitch emphasized.

Besides, Fitch highlighted Vietnam’s strong economic performance as a supporting factor. Vietnam’s GDP growth reached 6.8% in the first nine months of this year and Fitch anticipates the growth at 6.5% annually in 2025-2026.

“This sets up a conducive operating environment for banks, generating business growth opportunities and ameliorating asset-quality risks as the domestic real-estate market and consumer sentiment recover,” the rating agency emphasized.

Another supporting factor is MBB’s “asset quality metrics to recover.” The lender’s non-performing loan (NPL) ratio rose to 2.2% by end-September 2024 from 1.6% at end-2023, amid a sluggish recovery in the property sector that affected the retail segment.

However, Fitch expects the underlying asset-quality risks are subsiding and anticipates activity in the real-estate sector to continue to recover in 2025, which should support the bank's asset quality and keep impairment levels relatively manageable.

As a result, Fitch revised the outlook on asset quality score to “positive” from “stable,” while affirming the score at “b+.”

MBB recorded a net interest income of VND30,010 billion ($1.18 billion) in the first nine months of this year, up 1.66% year-on-year, according to the bank's financial statements. In the period, it earned a post-tax profit of VND16,349 billion, up 4.2% year-on-year.