[Hanoi, 13 April, 2019] Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) successfully concluded its 2019 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM). All proposals and strategic plans put forward by the Board of Directors (BOD) were approved by the shareholders.
During the AGM, the shareholders approved the plan to increase the Bank’s charter capital by issuing up to 10 million shares to its employees through an employee stock option plan (ESOP).
Additionally, the shareholders approved the proposal to appropriate retained earnings to invest in and implement initiatives, thereby increasing owners’ equity and facilitating future growth. This strategy has enabled Techcombank to successfully raise its equity threefold over the past three years, and helped it become one of only two Vietnamese banks to join the VND10 trillion PBT club.
The BOD also presented its key targets for 2019, including planned profit before tax (PBT) of VND11,750 billion, a 10% increase YoY. Moreover, the bank is targeting total asset growth of 17% to VND375,821 billion, and credit growth of 13% to VND245,366 billion in 2019. It will manage its non-performing loan ratio to less than 2.5%.
Techcombank’s strategy is to focus on driving growth through fee income. The Bank will leverage its modern transaction banking platform for business clients and improve customer experience through products like cards, bancassurance, online payments, and, most importantly, automatic payment services for businesses and retail customers. At the same time, Techcombank will continue to develop new solutions in mortgages, auto loans, credit, and payments, thereby meeting customers’ increasingly diverse and sophisticated demands.
The Bank will also continue to restructure its loan portfolio, shifting from wholesale to retail banking, thus reducing concentration risk, increasing profit margin, and improving its Basel II capital adequacy ratio (CAR).
“By executing our customer centric strategy in our daily operations, we commit to delivering comprehensive financial solutions to improve the financial lives of Vietnamese people and businesses. The Bank’s management maintains the belief that has led Techcombank to successfully achieving its greater targets”, Chairman Ho Hung Anh stated. The shareholders elected all eight nominees to the BOD, as well as the three nominees to the Supervisory Board for the 2019-2024 term.
Also at the AGM, Mr. Ho Hung Anh was reelected to be the Chairman of the BOD for a third consecutive term. The newly-appointed BOD will continue to execute its customer centric strategy, invest in technology—which includes development of digital banking and big data—and improve financial reporting and risk management capabilities in accordance with local and international best practices in order to help the Bank achieve high credit ratings by the most reputable global ratings agencies.
CELEBRATING A MOMENTOUS 2018
During the AGM, the BOD also reported the highlights of the Bank’s performance in 2018. During that momentous year, Techcombank celebrated its 25 th anniversary and became the first private bank in Vietnam to achieve PBT of VND10.7 trillion, a 32.7% increase versus the prior year.
Moreover, Techcombank completed a successful capital raise, which increased its capital adequacy ratio to 14.3%, well above not only the regulatory requirement established by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), but also the minimum capital requirements for the first pillar of Basel II.
Techcombank also expanded credit by 20% in 2018 to more than VND217 trillion, in line with limits established by the SBV, and increased its total assets to VND321 trillion. Its deposit growth was more than 18%, which drove total deposits to more than VND207 trillion, 29% of which was low-cost CASA. This increase in CASA balances was driven by continued investments in technology, including enhancements to its digital and online banking capabilities to meet customer needs and improve user experience. This investment yielded greater capacity, resulting in the near-doubling of online banking customers in 2018.
Deposit growth in 2018 improved not only among corporate customers, but also among individual retail customers, who contributed a dominant 71% of total deposits. Moreover, the funding structure was becoming more efficient. In 2018, the demand deposit balance was driven by implementing promotional programs like “Zero Fee” for both retail and business customers and “Unlimited 1% cashback” for debit cards. As a result, the CASA ratio as increased from 24% in 2017 to 29% in 2018.
These remarkable results are integral to Techcombank’s sustainable development in 2019 and the following years, enabling the Bank to continue delivering comprehensive, best-in-class financial solutions to the Vietnamese people and business community.