Agribank’s 2019 profit reported at about $600mln, up 92% from 2018

As of end-2019, Agribank's total assets stood at over VND1,450 trillion ($62 billion), up 13.3% compared to the end of 2018. Its outstanding loans increased by 11.6% and customer deposits increased by 15%.

The bank reported a bad debt ratio decreased slightly from 1.6% to 1.56% in 2019 while charter capital at the end of 2019 was VND30,591 billion ($1.3 billion), the lowest among 4 State-owned commercial banks. This year, the bank plans to increase charter capital.

Despite sharp increase last year, Agribank expects 20 percent drop in profits this year, Deputy Director Nguyen Thi Phuong told VnExpress, adding due to the coronavirus outbreak, the bank’s pre-tax profit could fall by a fifth to VND11 trillion $474 million.

Increasing 11 percent charter capital could cushion the fall, keeping it at VND12 trillion ($517 million), a 15 percent decline from last year, Phuong said.

The increased capital could help the bank achieve the 9-10 percent credit growth target set by the State Bank of Vietnam, she said. The wholly state-owned bank’s capital has remained at VND30.6 trillion ($1.3 billion) for nine years.

The bank, one of the ‘big four’ public lenders, had a capital adequacy ratio of 9.2 percent at the end of last year, barely above the minimum rate of 9 percent required by the State Bank of Vietnam.