OCB announces audited financial report 2024

Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (HOSE: OCB) has just announced its audited consolidated financial statements for 2024, with pre-tax profit remaining unchanged at VND 4,006 billion, maintaining good growth in core business activities, creating a solid foundation to achieve the 2025 target.

Maintain good growth of core business

According to the 2024 audited consolidated financial report, OCB's total assets reached VND 280,712 billion, an increase of 16.9% compared to 2023. With a strong structural shift to customers with good growth potential, in addition to implementing a new development strategy, focusing on digital transformation of financial products and services to improve convenience and shorten transaction times for corporate customers, along with preferential loan interest rates... OCB has maintained a credit growth rate of nearly 20% in market 1, higher than the industry average (15.08%). The bank's outstanding credit continues to focus on two strategic customer groups: individuals and small and medium enterprises, with increases of 11.4% and 51.7% respectively over the same period last year. In addition, as of December 31, 2024, green credit at OCB will also be boosted, increasing by 30% compared to 2023.

Market 1 mobilization reached VND 192,413 billion, up 14.5% compared to 2023. In 2024, although the market showed signs of increasing interest rates, OCB continued to maintain low mobilization interest rates to support credit. Since then, lending interest rates have also been significantly reduced (an average of more than 2%), contributing to promoting sustainable growth of credit products in line with the Government's orientation.

OCB's total net revenue reached VND 10,069 billion, up 12.7% year-on-year thanks to the core business's continuous strong growth, especially net interest income reaching VND 8,607 billion, up 27.2% compared to 2023, thanks to credit growth of nearly 20% and NIM improving to 3.5% by the end of 2024. The fact that OCB's NIM is clearly improving is one of the positive signals in the context that this issue is still a difficult problem for banks today. This shows that the strategy of promoting digital transformation, improving governance capacity, increasing CASA ratio, etc. is being effectively implemented. Specifically, the transaction rate via digital channels at OCB reached 96.2%, highlighted by the open banking platform (Open Banking), OCB OMNI application and digital bank for young people - Liobank.

On the contrary, total non-interest income decreased compared to the same period last year, reaching VND 1,462 billion due to foreign currency and securities trading activities, specifically the government bond market due to the impact of the common market that most banks in the system have to "face" in 2024.

Pre-tax profit reached VND 4,006 billion, down 3.2% compared to 2023. It is known that although OCB's business results in 2024 have not met expectations, with flexibility in operations, restructuring the business portfolio towards diversifying revenue sources, improving asset quality, promoting the effectiveness of debt management, debt collection and settlement... in the fourth quarter of 2024, the bank's business situation has had positive changes when pre-tax profit increased by 230% compared to the previous quarter. Overall, with a clear direction and the foundation from the results in the final period of the year, it is forecasted that OCB will quickly return to the growth track in 2025.

Digital transformation - the core element that makes the difference

In 2025, OCB continues to consider digitalization as a priority strategy to differentiate itself from other banks worldwide. In addition to expanding and optimizing the customer portfolio and providing a comprehensive set of financial solutions for businesses, the bank will focus on applying advanced technologies such as AI, Machine Learning, Big data, thereby proactively analyzing in-depth customer behavior, preferences and needs to achieve the goal of product personalization. In particular, OCB also expects Open Banking to be the bank's biggest differentiator.

Regarding business strategy, OCB targets industries that are the main growth drivers of the economy with high growth rates and expansion potential such as: energy, FMCG, logistics, residential real estate for young families. In addition, it is constantly expanding its FDI customer base to anticipate the trend of capital flow shifting from countries around the world. This is considered an advantage for OCB to accelerate in 2025 because the bank currently has a strong corporate customer base, a diverse customer ecosystem and, in particular, is one of the few banks that has been very successful in doing business with the Japanese and Korean corporate segments. With a strategic relationship with a Japanese partner - Azora Bank (AOZ), along with providing many comprehensive financial solutions for customers such as account management, cash flow, liquidity, trade finance, foreign exchange trading, etc., it creates a solid foundation and opportunities for businesses - OCB's partners to expand cooperation opportunities with many foreign partners and investors.

At the same time, OCB continues to promote and focus on financing green, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly sectors, in addition to lending to SMEs and businesses managed by women. This is considered a common policy of the Government as well as a common trend in the banking industry globally.

“2025 is a very important year for OCB because this is the last year to complete the 2021-2025 strategy and also the transition period for the new 2026-2030 strategy. We are determined to carry out the key actions set out for the goal of promoting the bank's business activities towards stable, transparent and sustainable growth, thereby implementing the 5-year strategy 2026-2030 to be in the Top 5 private banks in terms of ROE and ESG”. Mr. Pham Hong Hai - General Director of OCB shared.

Nhu Quynh