Vietcombank leads profitability among state-controlled banks

Three of Vietnam's biggest lenders Vietcombank, Vietinbank and BIDV reported the same net interest income in the second quarter this year, but very different profits.

Vietcombank's after-tax profit was 41% higher than VietinBank's and 34% higher than BIDV, although its operating income was only 1-9% higher than both banks.

Vietcombank achieved after-tax profit of VND7.43 trillion ($313.7 million) in Q2, up 25% year-on-year. The figures for Vietinbank and BIDV were VND5.26 trillion ($222.3 million) and VND5.56 trillion ($234.7 million), up 12% and 6%, respectively.

The net interest income of Vietcombank, VietinBank and BIDV reached VND14.02 trillion ($592.1 million), VND12.76 trillion ($538.9 million), and VND13.8 trillion ($582.8 million), respectively.

Another of the "Big 4", Agribank, has yet to announce its Q2 financial statement. Vietcombank, Vietinbank and BIDV are creditors with the state as majority shareholder, while Agribank is wholly state-owned.

Provisions proved to be the difference between the three banks. Vietcombank had to spend only VND2.5 trillion ($105.5 million) on risk provision, while VietinBank set aside up to VND6.48 trillion ($273.7 million) and BIDV VND4.19 trillion ($176.9 million).

Among the trio, VietinBank was the only one to increase its risk provision in Q2, up 10%. In contrast, provisions at Vietcombank and BIDV declined by 8% and 35%, respectively.

Vietcombank had the lowest bad debt, while BIDV had the highest.

As of June 30, 2023, Vietcombank's bad debt had stood at VND9.78 trillion ($413 million), up 25% compared to the beginning of the year and accounting for 0.83% of total outstanding loans.

BIDV's bad debt was over VND25.97 trillion ($1.09 billion), up 47% and making up 1.59% of total outstanding loans. The figures for VietinBank were VND17.3 trillion ($730.6 million), down 9.5% and 1.27%, respectively.

The Big 4 are currently leading in terms of total assets, capital base, and reputation. At the end of Q2, BIDV ranked first in terms of total assets with nearly VND2,125 trillion ($89.75 billion), up 1% compared to the beginning of the year.

Vietinbank ranked second with VND1,860 trillion ($78.55 billion) and Vietcombank third with VND1,704 trillion ($71.97 billion).

The main reason for the decrease in Vietcombank's asset size came from the narrowing of investment securities, deposits at the State Bank and deposits and loans to other credit institutions.