The business performance of the Maritime Commercial Bank (MSB) in the first half of 2016 was better than expected.
Revenue in the first half was reported at VND1.28 billion ($57.4 million), up 41 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to the bank’s January-June report released in mid-July.
Pre-tax profit stood at VND151 billion ($6.9 million), up 163 per cent year-on-year.
The first half saw improvements in the bank’s technology infrastructure and the expansion of its network and human resources. These were to enhance the quality of its customer services, establish new products, and increase corporate governance.
As at the end of June, charter capital stood at VND114.5 trillion ($5.2 billion), up 9 per cent compared to the end of 2015 and 20 per cent higher than in the same period last year.
Total deposits were VND74.6 trillion ($3.4 billion) at end-June, up 13 per cent compared to the end of 2015 and 20 per cent compared to the same period last year. Total lending stood at VND33.6 trillion ($1.53 billion), a 20 per cent increase against the end of 2015 and up 65 per cent year-on-year.
By enhancing the management of its charter capital its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) remained well above the 9 per cent threshold, reaching 22.12 per cent as at the end of June.
The liquidity reserve ratio was also higher than requirements, at 19.03 per cent by end-June, according to the report.
Along with its positive performance in the first half MSB was also named “Best Commercial Bank in Vietnam in 2016” by International Finance Magazine and won the “Vietnam Domestic Foreign Exchange Bank of the Year” award from Asian Banking & Finance magazine.
“We will strengthen our commitment towards sustainable development goals by focusing on the increase of customer satisfaction with the bank’s products and services,” said CEO Huynh Buu Quang, who was previously a senior official at HSBC Vietnam.
MSB has been in the media recently as Ms. Nguyen Thi Nguyet Huong, the wife of Chairman Tran Anh Tuan, was dismissed from her role as delegate for Hanoi in the 14th National Assembly (NA).
Ms. Huong, born in 1970 in Nam Dinh province, was found to hold dual citizenship and was therefore ineligible to stand under Vietnamese law, according to the National Election Council.
She was a delegate for Hanoi in the 13th NA and was recently returned for the 14th NA in the 2016-2021 tenure, but was dismissed on July 17, shortly before the NA’s first session opened on July 20.
Hanoi is also considering dismissing Ms. Huong from her role as delegate in the city’s People’s Council. “There are new developments from the police investigation regarding Ms. Huong’s dual citizenship and asset declaration,” Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Head of the Legal Committee at the Hanoi People’s Council told a press conference on July 28.
“Ms. Huong’s dismissal is likely to be considered in early August at the People’s Council meeting,” Mr. Nam added. The meeting will last four days, from August 1 to 4.
Ms. Huong, Chairwoman of Vietnam Investment Development (VID), a private concern specializing in developing industrial parks in the north, is also Chairwoman of TNG Holdings Vietnam - the investor in several urban area and apartment projects in Hanoi.