The HCM City Development Bank (HOSE: HDB) has released its financial statements for the first quarter showing a total consolidated operating income that increased by 27.8 percent year-on-year to VND3.15 trillion (US$134.4 million) and pre-tax profit that increased by 13.5 percent was VND1.25 trillion ($53.4 million).
It had total consolidated assets of VND231.8 trillion ($9.88 billion), and high levels of asset quality and liquidity.
The non-performing loan ratio of the parent bank continued to be strictly controlled, with its 1.08 percent rate placing it among the banks with the lowest ratios in the industry, a status it has enjoyed for many years.
Related: Vietnam’s HDBank earnings full-year 2019 beat estimates
Its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) topped 11.1 percent, much higher than the minimum of 8 percent prescribed under Basel II standards and placing it in the group of banks with the highest CAR.
Deposit and lending activities saw positive growth.
Deposits were worth VND204.9 trillion ($8.7 billion), of which deposits from residents and economic organisations increased by 4.61 percent to nearly VND158 trillion. The total consolidated loan balance was VND162.06 trillion ($6.9 billion), up 5.92 percent compared from the beginning of the year, which rate was higher than the industry average. The bank recorded steady growth across all loan segments, including individual customers, small and medium-sized enterprises and consumer loans.
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, HDBank has implemented risk management programs to ensure safe operations and at the same time deployed credit packages to support SMEs, enterprises that produce and distribute essential products and others in supply and distribution chains to help them overcome the tough situation.
The credit programs are designed specifically to support each target customer group, including a preferential credit package worth VND24 trillion ($1.02 billion) for corporate customers who supply goods to supermarkets to help stabilize the prices of essential goods, supplement working capital and pay salaries to their employees and a VND10 trillion ($425.8 million) preferential package for individuals and micro enterprises.
The bank has also adopted automation and digital solutions to offer customers convenience and safety. In the first quarter, online transactions by its customers grew at 112 percent and the number of new payment cards it issued went up by 67 percent over the same period of 2019.
HD SAISON maintained its leading position among consumer finance companies in terms of its distribution network, putting it among the top three in the market.
Its outstanding loans grew by 4.9 percent in the first quarter, exceeding its target.
In April 2020, Moody’s said it maintained the B1 credit rating for HDBank though it had announced many banks were likely to have their ratings lowered.
It underlined HDBank’s stable financial capacity, low risk and long-term development opportunities.
Also in the first quarter, HDBank was honored as the best domestic bank in Vietnam by The Asset, Asia’s leading banking and finance magazine.
In 2020, HDBank will select a bancassurance partner to increase revenues from cross-selling insurance products to customers in its large eco-system.
Vietnam is among the countries to recover fastest from the pandemic, which is a premise for growth for its banking industry, including HDBank.
— VNS