Hanoi (VNA) – Though the fiscal year 2019 is yet to end, early reportssuggest major commercial banks in Vietnam will enjoy big fat earnings this year.

In the latestannouncement, Sacombank said it expects to earn nearly 3.2 trillion VND (138.32million USD) in profit before tax in 2019, 20 percent higher than the yearlygoal. The private bank has a total asset of 457 trillion VND while its totaldeposits and outstanding loans amounted to 413 trillion VND and 296 trillionVND, respectively. The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio dropped to 1.75 percent.

The VietnamInternational Bank (VIB) also reported its profit hits a record high of over 4trillion VND this year, a 1.5-fold increase from 2018 and 5.6 times higher than2016. The bank’s total asset reached 180 trillion VND, up 30 percent againstthe end of last year.

Agribankgenerated 10.35 trillion VND in profit before tax in the first 10 months of theyear, surging past its target for the full year at 10 trillion VND. TheState-owned bank expects its profit to reach at least 11 trillion VND by theend of this year. As of October’s beginning, its total asset valued at 1.4quadrillion VND while the deposits totalled 1.28 quadrillion VND.

In the firstthree quarters of 2019, Vietcombank announced profit before tax of 17.25trillion VND, up 51.9 percent year on year and equal to 85.4 percent of theyear’s plan. Though the final figure has yet to bereleased, it is likely that the bank will continue leading the bankingsector in profit this year, at 22trillion VND, higher than the yearly plan of 20 trillion VND.

This year,Vietinbank aims for profit before tax of 9.5 trillion VND, a year-on-year 41percent growth, with the total asset expanding about 2 – 5 percent. At arecent meeting with the Bank ofTokyo Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG Bank) from Japan, Vietinbank Chairman Le Duc Thopredicted the bank’s profit will exceed the year’s plan. By the end ofSeptember, it gained over 8.45 trillion VND in profit before tax, up 11 percentfrom a year earlier and equivalent to 89 percent of the yearly goal.

The commercialbanks’ impressive earnings are attributable to theirefforts to improve net interest margin (NIM) and reduce bad debts, according toan expert from SSI Securities Corporation. In the third quarter, 12 listedbanks, surveyed by the SSI Securities, had a combined profit before tax of 27trillion VND, a year-on-year surge of 42.1 percent, largely owing to goodcontrol of operating costs and provision expenses./.