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At VietABank’s 2026 Annual General Meeting, management addressed questions on stock price performance, asset quality and provisioning pressures, real estate lending, profit targets, operating efficiency, and the bank’s strategic direction amid volatility in the economy and financial markets.
VietABank leadership said the current share price does not fully reflect the bank’s intrinsic value. Chairman Phuong Thanh Long stated that book value per share is about 13,000 dong, while the market price is hovering around par value (10,000 dong) and has not shown a clearly positive trend.
Long said the gap partly reflects operating results, but is also heavily influenced by broader market conditions, including international factors. He added that VietABank’s stock volatility in recent periods has been smaller than many other listed institutions, including other banks. While some stocks have swung sharply—falling 50–70%—VietABank’s shares have fluctuated around 13,000–10,000 dong, equivalent to roughly a 30% change.
Management viewed this relative stability as positive, but said the bank needs bolder steps in the near term to attract both existing shareholders and new investors.
To improve market understanding of the bank’s value and prospects, the Chairman said VietABank will intensify investor relations (IR) activities. Long will directly participate in management and serve as head of the IR committee, aiming to strengthen communication of information, policies, and activities to investors.
Responding to concerns about rising bad debts and potential provisioning pressure, CEO Nguyen Van Trong said the 2026 business plan is built on about 20% growth versus 2025. Last year, VietABank posted profits above 1,600 billion dong, and the 2026 target is 1,935 billion dong.
Management said the plan is supported by quarterly milestones. In Q1 2026, most indicators were achieved or exceeded, including service-fee income. The bank completed about 26% of the annual profit plan, equivalent to 508 billion dong. By the end of April, profit was estimated at about 614 billion dong, and in Q2 the bank targets nearly 900 billion dong to complete the year’s plan.
Trong said VietABank has not failed to meet its plan over the past six years and expressed confidence that 2026 will meet the target and may even exceed 2,000 billion dong in profit.
On asset quality, VietABank reported that the gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio at end-Q1 2026 was 1.29%, down from 1.31% a year earlier. The bank said it has fully provisioned for loans in groups 4 and above.
Management noted that if loans move to Group 5, the impact on results would be limited because provisioning had already been accounted for in the 2026 plan. It also stated that provisioning is detailed by loan groups (Group 3, 4, 5), so it does not affect the 2026 profit plan.
Regarding real estate lending, leadership said the loan portfolio is balanced across sectors including real estate, manufacturing, exports, and industrial zones, in line with State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) rules. For 2026, VietABank plans to limit new real estate lending, especially to new customers, while continuing to finance projects already approved to support sales progress.
The bank said it will also focus more on SMEs and companies in industrial zones and develop supporting services to increase non-interest income.
On credit growth, Long said VietABank has an allocation of about 9.18% growth for 2026. With outstanding loans around 89,000 billion dong, the bank aims to lift this to above 100,000 billion dong, improving its position among private commercial banks.
VietABank said operating costs are around 1,000 billion dong per year, including personnel and governance, with careful control. The cost-to-income ratio (CIR) is 32%, below the market average of about 35–36%. The bank aims to further optimize costs and bring CIR below 30% through digital transformation, automation, and a leaner organization.
Management said VietABank will focus on five pillars in 2026:
On dividends, VietABank maintains a policy of about 15% in shares in recent years. Management said retaining part of profits to increase capital is necessary given the bank’s relatively smaller size versus many peers, to improve competitiveness.
A shareholder asked about the impact of global geopolitical tensions, including the Middle East conflict. Leadership said VietABank’s client base has few direct exposures to the region, so direct impact is limited. However, indirect factors—such as interest-rate movements, exchange-rate fluctuations, and global market conditions—still affect the broader system.
The bank said it has built a risk-management framework and regularly monitors and updates response scenarios. It also said a plan to raise charter capital by an additional 3,100 billion dong is part of measures to bolster resilience to external shocks. Management expressed confidence in the government and SBV’s governance and in the resilience of the Vietnamese economy.
On negative cash flow in Q1, leadership explained it reflects a cash-flow statement line item where cash outflows for investments in Government bonds exceeded inflows, describing it as a technical fluctuation that does not impact profits or operating performance.
In digital banking, VietABank said it prioritized technology in recent years. In 2025, it completed a mobile app for individual customers. In 2026, it plans to launch a digital platform for corporate customers to meet growing demand for online payments and digital transactions.
On interest-rate movements, management said market volatility from late 2025 into early 2026 did not create significant pressure due to proactive structuring of long-term funding, with about 35–40% of deposits having terms over 12 months. Management said this helps reduce funding costs when market rates rise. It also said VietABank follows SBV guidance to keep deposit rates stable, supporting stable lending rates for enterprises and the economy.
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