Vietnam listed banks’ bad debt up $2.3 billion in 9 months

The bad debt of listed banks in Vietnam continued to grow during the first nine months of 2024, with some seeing it increase as much as 70% from the end of 2023.

According to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), total credit in the banking system had risen 9% since the beginning of the year till September 30, up 16% compared to the same period last year.

This meant that the banking sector lent an additional VND1,200 trillion ($47.3 billion) in the period, achieving about 60% of the credit growth target set for the year. The remaining credit room for the fourth quarter is approximately VND800 trillion ($31.5 billion).

Experts have noted that demand for loans usually increases towards the end of the year, making the goal of pumping VND2,000 trillion ($78.8 billion) into the economy this year achievable.

However, bad debt has also grown significantly this year. Data on 27 banks listed on Vietnam’s stock exchanges showed that their total bad debt as of the end of September had reached VND251.5 trillion ($9.9 billion), up VND56.8 trillion ($2.3 billion) or 29% from the beginning of the year.

The bad debt ratio also climbed from 1.9% to 2.2%, still within the safe range by international standards.

LPBank, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) as LPB, saw the largest increase in bad debt.

At the end of Q3, its bad debt stood at VND6.27 trillion ($246.9 million), up 70% from the beginning of the year. The amount of potentially irrecoverable debt rose 2.3 times to VND2.72 trillion ($107.1 million), while overdue debt rose sharply by 73% to VND3.1 trillion ($122 million). The lender’s bad debt ratio increased from 1.3% to nearly 2%.

In the first nine months, LPBank was one of the most active lenders, with credit growth reaching 16.1%, well above the industry average and exceeding the sector's target for the entire year.

The areas that the bank increased lending to included wholesale and retail as well as car and motorcycle repairs, with loans rising from VND59.57 trillion to VND85.41 trillion ($3.36 billion).

MBBank (HoSE: MBB) recorded bad debt of VND15.68 trillion ($617.44 million) at the end of Q3, up nearly 60% from the year’s beginning. Of this, potentially irrecoverable debt surged 40% to VND4.05 trillion. Its bad debt ratio also rose from 1.6% to 2.2%.

MBBank also saw high credit growth at 14.9%. The bank disbursed nearly VND91 trillion ($3.58 billion) in nine months, with VND31.5 trillion going to wholesale, retail and vehicle repair sectors.

Many other banks reported bad debt balances rising by around 50%. These include BVBank (UPCoM: BVB), NamABank (HoSE: NAB), BacABank (HNX: BAB), and BIDV (HoSE: BID).

Notably, state-controlled BIDV surpassed VPBank (HoSE: VPB) to become the bank with the highest bad debt balance, reaching VND33.35 trillion ($1.31 billion), up 49.2% compared to the beginning of the year.

Its irrecoverable debt stood at VND18.29 trillion, up 40.5%. However, with a loan portfolio of more than VND1.9 trillion ($74.82 million) – the largest among listed banks – BIDV’s bad debt ratio remained at a safe 1.7%, up from 1.3% at the beginning of the year.

Eight banks had bad debt ratios exceeding the international safety threshold of 3%: National Bank (HNX: NVB), VPBank, BVBank, VIB (HoSE: VIB), Vietbank (UPCoM: VBB), ABBank (UPCoM: ABB), PGBank (UPCoM: PGB), and OCB (HoSE: OCB).

In 2023, the irrecoverable loans of National Bank surged from VND3.28 trillion to VND13.78 trillion ($546.2 million).

In the first nine months of 2024, VPBank reported a high bad debt ratio of 4.8%. Despite a 12% increase in credit growth, during the period, the bank was able to reduce its bad debt ratio from 5% to 4.8%, showing an improvement in its asset quality.

VPBank, Saigon-Hanoi Bank (HoSE: SHB) and OCB are among the few banks to report a decrease in their bad debt ratios compared to 2023.