Banks boost revenue from service provision

Tuesday, May 13, 2008
The stock market has slumped due to global affects whereby most small investors now feel worried and puzzled about share prices. Banks in general and Sacombank in particular adjusted their business plans to accommodate to economic changes at the moment.Since the end of 2007, based on the forecasted that the world's finance situation and Vietnam's will face many difficulties, Sacombank has built suitable growth targets for 2008 and defined safety targets given high priorities in their operation. During the first four months of this year when the world economy signalled depression leading to high inflation and many consequences, heavy pressure of capital scarcity on commercial banks, but Sacombank urgently implemented synchronic measures to stabilise its operation, such as halting credit growth, enhancing monetary business, developing services, restructuring asset and finance, lending and investment portfolio, increasing revenue and reducing spending. Thanks to these, the local bank reached a profit of 102 billion dong in April, bringing the total figure in Jan-April to 537 billion dong, up 30% yoy while its total asset was 73.247 trillion dong, jumping 114% yoy. In addition, as for the property lending field, Sacombank is trying to control the ratio of 17.1% of total outstanding loan. In which the bank's loans for real estate projects accounted for 2.7%, that for consumer real estate lending made up 14.4%.
Moreover, the bank's securities lending was less than 20% on total chartered capital in line with State Bank of Vietnam's regulation. The bad debt ratio was kept at 0.2% and the capital adequacy ratio reached nearly 10%, showing that the bank's business portfolio was very effective, safe and matched with business trend of foreign lenders that have boosted business from non-credit field.