Vietnam's Techcombank 2019 profit up 20% to $435 million

The lender, formally known as Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank, said credit growth, revenue from securities trading, strong retail banking operations contributed to its profit growth, far exceeding the whole-year goal.

Techcombank (HoSE: TCB) continues to be the most profitable private bank in Vietnam.

Profits from securities trading grew impressively thanks to the distribution of bonds of subsidiary. Profit from securities trading increased by 136% to $16.8 million. Foreign exchange trading saw a profit of $4.5 million, down 55%.

Total credit of Techcombank last year was estimated to increase by nearly 20% while customer deposits increased by almost 15% to $10 billion.

In fourth quarter, Techcombank recorded $166 million after-tax profit, an increase of 29% over the same period last year. Income from services activities was $69.6 million, while profit from other activities was nearly $26 million, up 6%.

Techcombank's growth in income from service was contributed by its Zero Fee program sacrificing service fees to promote deposits.

The bank said bad debts accounted for 1.33% of its total lending as of end-2019, down from 1.75% at the beginning of the year.

Total assets of the bank increased by 20% to $16.6 billion. TCB share was traded at VND24.000 ($1.02) a piece  on January 21st.