Sai Gon Thuong Tin (Sacombank) announced pre-tax profits of VND286.8 billion (US$18 million), while Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) posted VND280.5 billion ($17.5 million) in pre-tax profit, which it said was up 155 per cent from the first half of 2005.
Eximbank registered pre-tax profit of VND161 billion ($10 million), an almost seven-fold improvement over last year corresponding period. The Military Bank meanwhile announced VND126 billion ($7.9 million) in pre-tax profit.
Other joint-stock commercial banks, including Techcombank, VP Bank, International Bank, Southern Bank and Eastern Asia Bank, also posted strong growth in profits compared to the same period last year.
Banking analysts said the statistics were an accurate indication of financial performance as they were gathered by independent or international auditors, and reflected international standards in classifying credit ratings.
Recent strategic share issuances have not only increased bank capital holdings, but have also resulted in higher profits since the margin between face value and actual selling prices are accounted as a source of income.
Several banks said they had managed to profit from handling bad debt and selling collateral.
Source: Vietnam News, July 19