Excellent core business performance
According to the financial report for 2023 recently announced by OCB, as of December 31, 2023, OCB’s total assets reached VND 239.454 trillion, a 23% increase compared to 2022. Total market mobilization 1 reached VND 168.112 trillion, up 22% YoY. Market debt 1 increased by 21% compared to 2022, reaching VND 148.005 trillion, achieving 100% of the annual plan. In which, customer loans reached VND 144.849 trillion, completing 101% of the set target, a 21% increase compared to the previous year thanks to active implementation of a series of loan packages with preferential interest rates and simplified procedures. Particularly, OCB is one of the very few banks with a higher credit growth compared to the industry average.
Total owners’ equity increased 16% YoY to reach VND 29.411 trillion. 2023 is also a year where OCB achieved an impressive milestone by successfully increasing its charter capital to VND 20.548 trillion (an increase of VND 6.849 trillion). With the success of increasing charter capital, OCB officially belongs to the group of Top private banks with the largest charter capital in the system, and at the same time becomes one of the banks with the strongest growth in charter capital this year.
Total revenue increased by 12% to reach VND 9.525 trillion, in which interest income reached VND 7.291 trillion, a 5% increase. This growth rate somewhat reflects the real situation of the entire industry, as in 2023, most banks saw a decrease in their interest income compared to the same period, due to the slowdown in credit growth and the weak capital absorption of the economy. In addition, the real estate market remains difficult, with the banking industry not only having difficulty in promoting capital flow but also a tendency of increasing bad debts, requiring banks to increase provisions.
Non-interest income returned to growth in 2023, increasing by 41% to reach VND 2.234 trillion. Service income reached VND 882 billion, with outstanding performances in OCB OMNI digital banking and Card services. Specifically, the total number of OCB OMNI users increased by 28% compared to 2022; the number of transactions carried out in 2023 increased by 61% compared to 2022; the total amount of deposits increased by 23% YoY.
The Card services segment has experienced a breakthrough in growth since the past three years, with the total number of issued cards growing by 348% compared to 2020 and an expected 93% growth in debit cards compared to 2022. Key figures of credit card transaction volume, credit card outstanding balance, and total revenue all recorded positive growth compared to 2022, with growth rates of 97%, 31%, and 64% respectively.
All these factors have helped OCB record a pretax profit of VND 5.227 trillion, a 19% increase compared to 2022. In addition, OCB actively reduced costs, creating conditions to lower lending interest rates for customers, as indicated by a decrease in the cost-to-income ratio (CIR) to only 33%, compared to 36% in 2022. Therefore, OCB is evaluated as one of the few banks with outstanding business performance and good cost control in 2023, despite the overall difficult business context for banks throughout the system. Particularly, thanks to strengthening of management activities, debt recovery, and good control of overdue debts and bad debts, OCB’s bad debt ratio has always been under control, ensuring compliance with SBV’s regulations.
Accompanying customers “accelerate” and strictly comply with the regulations of the Government and the SBV
2023 was considered a highly volatile and challenging year for the Vietnamese economy due to various factors. In addition to optimal financial products and services, OCB actively proposed many specific, practical solutions and actions to “ride the wave” and turn challenges into opportunities through preferential interest rate policies.
Specifically, for customers who were less affected and still operating well, OCB was ready to implement programs to support interest rate reduction and cost reduction to continue their operations and business more strongly, even to quickly meet increased credit demands. Secondly, for the group of customers facing difficulties and being unable to repay debts, at risk of becoming bad debts or having to restructure their debts, OCB continued to restructure old debts, supporting resolution of new loans in a way that helped customers implement new business plans, repay new loans while accumulating resources to repay old loans. In this group, the bank even has very flexible policies to help customers develop and expand their scale.
If compared to the period of the highest interest rates in 2023, then towards the end of the year, customers practically experienced an average interest rate reduction of around 50%. For example, on average, in early 2023, borrowers were charged 12% interest, whereas now they can borrow at around 6-7%, according to OCB’s leadership.
In addition to focusing on removing obstacles and accompanying customers, in 2023, OCB was also highly valued in seriously implementing regulations of the Government and the SBV. Specifically, OCB has continuously been listed among the Top 30 largest taxpayers in Vietnam in recent years. This clearly demonstrates OCB’s business principles in complying with Vietnamese laws and regulations, especially those related to taxation. This is also the guiding principle in all activities of the bank, with the goal of achieving stable, sustainable growth and transparency.
Meanwhile, growth indicators, asset quality, and risk management have always been ensured. Therefore, in November 2023, OCB continued to be listed in the Top 500 strongest banks in Asia-Pacific.
In 2024, OCB expects to double its customer base through changes in products and services, active digital transformation, and the launch of new digital products in the market, while continuously improving asset quality and upgrading risk management systems. This aims to tighten the lending of new loans, ensuring credit quality and the bank’s health, towards sustainable development.
