The Military Commercial Bank, trading under the ticker MBB on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, is one of the leading commercial banks in Vietnam. Established in 1994, it operates under the Ministry of National Defence.
MBB’s total operating income increased by 11.3 percent year over year in the first half of 2024 with the banking industry benefiting from a more stable macroeconomic environment than in 2023 and a rebound in credit demand.
Net interest income, however, increased by only 1 percent. This was due to the bank focusing less on lending in the first half of 2024 and on reducing bad debt instead–Back in 2023, despite a weak economy, MBB’s saw lending grow by 28 percent. This was more than double the national average of 13.71 percent. Subsequently, the bank’s non-performing loan ratio rose from 1.6 percent at the end of 2023 to 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2024.
In contrast, non-interest income increased by 73.3 percent due to the strong growth of stock brokerage services and securities investment. This was in line with an increase in the VN Index of 10.2 percent on the back of an 11.5 percent increase in first-quarter profits among HoSE-listed companies and a recovery in export and manufacturing activities. As a result, the net gain from securities trading reached US$57.3 million, an increase of 8.8 times year over year.
Disclosure: The author does not have any financial interest in MBB stock.