Sharing at an online conference with investors on the afternoon of January 10, General Director of the Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) Pham Nhu Anh said that the debts of two major customers, Novaland and Trung Nam Group, at the bank are currently in group 1 debt, which means qualified debt.

“By the end of 2024, Novaland and Trung Nam's debts will be in group 1 debt. It is likely that in the first 6 months of 2025, the legal problems at the two projects Novaland Phan Thiet and Aqua City Dong Nai will be resolved,” said Mr. Anh.

Meanwhile, the problems of Trung Nam Group's customers in energy projects are expected to be resolved in the first quarter of 2025 as the government is focusing on removing them.

Ms. Pham Thi Trung Ha, Deputy General Director of MB, added that in the third and fourth quarters of 2024, the bank has thoroughly resolved bad debts.

Regarding the outstanding debt of Novaland and Trung Nam, Ms. Ha said that the collateral of these two customers is always 1.5-2 times higher than the outstanding debt. Currently, both of these customers are still paying their debts normally.

Mr. Pham Nhu Anh also revealed some preliminary information about the business results in 2024, with indicators exceeding the plan set by the General Meeting of Shareholders. Specifically, the parent bank's profit increased by 12%, reaching VND 27,600 billion; revenue increased by 21%.

The parent bank's bad debt as of December 31, 2024 is 1.2%, the provisioning ratio for bad debt coverage is up to 112%. Meanwhile, capital mobilization increased by 19% (equivalent to VND 800,000 billion).

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MB Bank General Director Pham Nhu Anh. Photo: MB

Member companies of the MB Group ecosystem all achieved business results according to plan, of which MBS Securities achieved 930 billion VND in profit, up 30% over the same period.

However, the contribution of member companies only reaches 5% of the total revenue structure. MB's target is that this figure must be from 20-25%.

MB has a cautious plan for 2025 due to the volatile global situation and slower-than-expected decline in USD interest rates. Accordingly, the bank aims to increase its profit by 10% in 2025, equivalent to VND32,000 billion, and will accelerate if conditions permit.

The bank continues to set a credit growth target of up to 25% in 2025, equivalent to an increase of about VND 200,000 billion, prioritizing 50% of credit room for the retail sector.

The reason why MB can achieve such large group-wide credit growth is thanks to the mandatory transfer of OceanBank (recently renamed MBV).

According to Mr. Anh, MB will sell debt to MBV and the debt sale part will be calculated outside the growth plan in the direction that the bank will be compensated for the sold part.

“I cannot disclose the specific number, but for example, if 10% is sold, the bank will get 10% growth compensation. MB only sells outstanding debt so that MBV can make a profit, without affecting MB's profitability/total assets,” said Mr. Pham Nhu Anh.

According to Mr. Dam Nhan Duc - Chief Economist of MB Bank, the CASA ratio (non-term deposits) will increase again in the fourth quarter of 2024, currently reaching VND 281,000 billion. Of which, CASA from individual customers accounts for 60%. This ratio before MB implemented digital transformation was only 25%.