Foreign-Invested Banks in Vietnam Report Strong Profits in H1

Amid a challenging environment for local banks, foreign-invested banks Shinhan Vietnam and HSBC Vietnam have achieved positive business results in the first half of 2023. Shinhan Vietnam, a South Korean bank, witnessed a significant increase in its return on equity (ROE) ratio, rising from 14.07 percent to 17.47 percent. Its owner’s equity reached over VND27.6 trillion ($1.15 billion), a nearly VND2.4 trillion ($100.2 million) increase since the beginning of the year. Additionally, the bank’s debt-to-equity ratio decreased to 4.72 from 5.92 times, equivalent to VND130.3 trillion ($5.4 billion), with outstanding bonds accounting for VND2.76 trillion ($115.2 million). The capital adequacy ratio also improved to 20.43 percent compared to the start of the year.

Shinhan Vietnam operates in 20 countries and established its first representative office in Vietnam in 1993. Similarly, HSBC Vietnam, another foreign-invested bank, achieved positive business results in the first half of the year. Its after-tax profit reached VND2.65 trillion ($110.6 million), a 2.4-fold increase compared to the previous year, while net earnings amounted to an impressive VND4 trillion ($167 million), a 2.6-fold year-on-year increase. HSBC Vietnam’s total assets reached VND190.29 trillion ($7.94 billion) by the end of June, with owner’s equity surpassing VND18.7 trillion ($780.3 million), representing a 17 percent year-on-year growth.

In contrast, 27 listed Vietnamese banks experienced a combined after-tax profit decline of 2.9 percent year-on-year during the same period. However, Shinhan Vietnam and HSBC Vietnam bucked this trend and achieved positive financial performance.