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Banking stocks have continuously been the focus of the Vietnamese stock market in recent months, leading in both liquidity and price increase. Overall, from the beginning of 2024 until now, a series of banking stocks have increased by 15 – 30%. Among them, many banking stocks have surpassed their previous peaks, such as VCB, BID, ACB, HDB, and MBB, or approached historical highs like CTG and LPB.
VCB up 21% since the beginning of the year
In the session on February 28, VCB’s Vietcombank shares unexpectedly hit the ceiling price of 97,400 VND per share, officially surpassing the previous peak of 93,700 VND recorded at the end of July 2023. From the beginning of the year until now, this stock has increased by over 21%, helping Vietcombank’s market capitalization reach a record high of over 544 trillion VND.
With this development, Vietcombank continues to solidify its position as the top bank in terms of market capitalization, far surpassing the two banks behind, BIDV (307 trillion VND) and VietinBank (193 trillion VND).
Vietcombank’s stock has surged strongly as the bank’s Board of Directors recently approved the plan to distribute the 2022 profit according to the principles approved by the State Bank of Vietnam.
Accordingly, after adjusting and setting up funds, Vietcombank’s undistributed profit for 2022 is 21,680 billion VND. Vietcombank is expected to use the entire remaining profit to distribute dividends in the form of shares. This plan will need to be submitted to the State Bank of Vietnam for comments.
In terms of business results, in 2023, Vietcombank recorded a consolidated pre-tax profit of 41,244 billion VND, an increase of 10.4% compared to 2022.
With the above results, Vietcombank continues to outperform other major banks such as BIDV (27,650 billion VND), MB (26,306 billion VND), Agribank (25,400 billion VND), VietinBank (25,100 billion VND), and establishes a new profit record in the banking industry.
As of the end of 2023, Vietcombank’s total assets reached over 1,839 trillion VND, an increase of 1.4% compared to the beginning of the year. Of which, customer loans reached over 1,270 trillion VND, an increase of 10.9%. Customer deposits increased by 12.2% to nearly 1,396 trillion VND, with demand deposits accounting for 35.2%.
Vietcombank’s bad debts at the end of 2023 amounted to 12,455 billion VND, an increase of 59.3% compared to the end of 2022. As a result, the bad debt ratio on total outstanding loans increased from 0.68% to 0.98%; at the same time, the coverage ratio decreased from 317% to 230%. However, Vietcombank still has the lowest bad debt ratio among banks and the highest coverage ratio in the banking industry.
BID up 24% since the beginning of the year
In February, BIDV’s BID shares consecutively set new price records. Currently, this stock is trading at around 54,000 VND per share, an increase of over 24% compared to the end of 2024. With this development, BIDV’s market capitalization has reached over 307 trillion VND, ranking second in the market, only after Vietcombank.
BID stocks have surged amid BIDV recently organizing an extraordinary general meeting in 2024, which passed the adjustment of the implementation time to offer additional shares in the 2023 Charter capital increase plan. Accordingly, the EGAM decided to postpone the implementation time of the capital increase plan to 2024.
According to the 2023 capital increase plan, BIDV still plans to issue an additional 455 million shares through public offering or private placement. The bank has not announced the details of the offering plan, but BIDV has long planned to issue private placements to foreign investors and has not successfully implemented it.
In terms of business results, as of the end of 2023, BIDV’s consolidated pre-tax profit reached nearly 27,650 billion VND, an increase of 20.6% compared to 2022. This is the first time BIDV’s profit has exceeded US$1 billion and is the second highest profit in the banking industry, after Vietcombank (41,244 billion VND).
BIDV’s total assets at the end of 2023 exceeded 2.3 quadrillion VND, an increase of 8.5% compared to the beginning of the year. With this asset scale, BIDV continues to lead the banking industry in terms of total assets, far ahead of other major players like VietinBank (2.033 quadrillion VND), Agribank (2 quadrillion VND), and Vietcombank (1.839 quadrillion VND).
In 2023, BIDV’s customer loans increased by 16.8%, much higher than the industry’s average growth rate of 13.71%, reaching a record high of 1.778 quadrillion VND. Customer deposits also increased by 15.7% to over 1.704 quadrillion VND, with demand deposits accounting for 20.2%.
Regarding asset quality, BIDV’s non-performing loans at the end of 2023 amounted to 22,229 billion VND, an increase of 22.9% compared to the beginning of the year. As a result, the ratio of bad debts to total outstanding loans increased from 1.19% to 1.25%; the coverage ratio decreased from 210% to 182%.
ACB up 17% in the first two months of the year
ACB is also listed in the highest-priced stock list of all time. Since the beginning of the year, the stock price has increased by a total of 17.1%, reaching 28,000 VND with a market capitalization of nearly 109 trillion VND.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, ACB recorded a pre-tax profit of 5,043 billion VND, an increase of 39.6% compared to the same period in 2022. Accumulated in 2023, the bank’s pre-tax profit reached 20,068 billion VND, an increase of 17.2% compared to 2022 and achieved the business plan.
As of December 31, 2023, ACB’s total assets reached over 719 trillion VND, an increase of 18.2% compared to the beginning of the year. Of which, the credit scale of ACB reached nearly 488 trillion, an increase of 17.9%. This is the highest credit growth rate in the past 10 years.
ACB’s mobilized resources reached nearly 483 trillion VND by the end of 2023, an increase of 16.6% compared to the beginning of the year, exceeding the industry’s average growth rate. In which, the CASA ratio grew strongly, reaching 22% and ranked TOP 5 in terms of CASA ratio in the industry.
HDB up 29% since the beginning of the year
After a series of consecutive price increases and approaching the 24,000 VND threshold, HDBank’s HDB stock has cooled down in recent sessions. However, HDB is still trading at historically high prices, above 23,000 VND per share. Since the beginning of the year, this stock has had a return rate of up to 29%.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, HDBank reported a pre-tax profit of 4,385 billion VND, an increase of 94.7% compared to the same period last year. Accumulated throughout 2023, the bank’s after-tax profit reached 13,017 billion VND, an increase of 26.8% compared to 2022 – ranking among listed banks with the highest profit growth rate. Profit indicators included ROA reaching 2.0% and ROE reaching 24.2%, both higher than the previous year.
As of December 31, 2023, HDBank’s total assets reached over 602 trillion VND, an increase of 44.7% compared to 2022. The market’s mobilized capital reached 537 trillion VND, an increase of 46.5%. Consolidated credit reached 353 trillion VND, an increase of 31.8%.
MBB up over 30% in the first two months of the year
After 4 months of strong price increases, MBB’s MB stock is currently trading at historically high prices (above 24,000 VND). Since the beginning of the year, MBB’s stock price has increased by a total of nearly 31% and is one of the stocks with the highest return rate in the VN30 group.
In 2023, with a profit of 26,306 billion VND, equivalent to a growth rate of over 15%, MB not only surpassed VietinBank and Agribank (in the Big4 group) but also created a considerable gap with other joint-stock banks.
MB’s growth momentum in 2023 mainly comes from its core operations, with net interest income increasing by 7.4% to 38,683 billion VND. In addition, the cost-to-income ratio (CIR) improved from 32.5% to 31.5%. The provision expense decreased by 24.4% to 6,087 billion VND.
As of December 31, 2023, MB’s total assets reached 944,954 billion VND, an increase of 29.7% compared to the end of 2022. Customer loans increased by 32.7%. Customer deposits increased by 27.9% to 567,533 billion VND. The demand deposit ratio (CASA) reached 40.2%, the highest in the industry.
CTG up 33% since the beginning of the year, approaching historical highs
VietinBank’s CTG stock has seen a strong increase in the first two months of 2024 and is currently trading at around 36,000 VND. This stock has increased by 33% since the beginning of the year and is likely to soon surpass its historical peak of 36,800 VND in the near future.
Recently, VietinBank’s Board of Directors approved the plan to distribute the 2022 profit. Accordingly, after setting up funds, VietinBank’s remaining profit is 11,648 billion VND. The bank plans to use the entire remaining profit to distribute dividends in the form of shares.
In terms of business results, in the fourth quarter of 2023, VietinBank recorded a consolidated pre-tax profit of 7,699 billion VND, an increase of 43.4% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. Accumulated throughout 2023, VietinBank’s pre-tax profit reached 25,100 billion VND, an increase of 18.8% compared to the same period and completed the business plan. The bank ranked fifth in the profit rankings of the entire industry for the past year.
As of December 31, 2023, VietinBank’s total assets exceeded 2 quadrillion VND, an increase of 12.4% compared to the end of 2022. VietinBank is the third bank, after BIDV and Agribank, to reach the 2 quadrillion VND milestone.
Customer loans increased by 15.6% over the past year, reaching over 1.47 quadrillion VND. Customer deposits at VietinBank increased by 12.9% to over 1.4 quadrillion VND.
VietinBank’s bad debts at the end of 2023 amounted to 16,608 billion VND, an increase of 784 billion VND compared to the end of 2022. The bad debt ratio improved, standing at 1.13%, lower than the 1.24% at the end of 2022 and 1.37% at the end of September 2023.
LPB is less than 7% away from its peak
After unsuccessfully breaking its previous peak, LPB’s stock has undergone some adjustments in the past two weeks. However, the stock is currently only about 7% below its historical high. Previously, LPB had an impressive price increase in 2023, from over 10,000 VND per share to nearly 16,000 VND per share, and increased by an additional 9% in the first two months of 2024.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, LPBank reported a pre-tax profit of 3,353 billion VND, an increase of 287% compared to the same period last year. For the whole year of 2023, LPBank’s after-tax profit reached 7,039 billion VND, an increase of 24% compared to 2022.
According to the bank’s explanation, the significant results in the fourth quarter of 2023 came from the increased lending to meet the capital needs of the economy. At the same time, foreign exchange services for import-export businesses surged, and LPBank deployed many new products to support service income.
As of December 31, 2023, LPBank’s total assets reached over 382,953 billion VND, an increase of 17% compared to the beginning of the year. Market capital mobilization reached 285,342 billion VND. Credit growth reached 39,686 billion VND, with a ratio of 16.83%, in line with the limit allowed by the State Bank of Vietnam.
