BIDV profits down 16 pct

By Quynh Trang January 8, 2021 | 06:00 pm PT

A sign of BIDV in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Shutterstock/Slyellow.

The consolidated profit of BIDV, Vietnam’s largest state-owned lender by assets, declined by 16 percent in 2020 to VND9 trillion ($390 million), despite a year-end surge in lending.

As of October 1 loans outstanding had only grown by 2.5 percent for the year. Then, in the last quarter, it rose by 6.5 percent.

According to the bank, in 2020 it had cut interest rates and fees to support enterprises and individual customers amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The central bank's recent report has forecast that Covid-19 is expected to affect the quality of VND2 quadrillion ($86.52 billion) worth of debt issued by Vietnamese banks, accounting for 23 percent of the banking system’s outstanding debt.

BIDV has yet to reveal its profit target for 2021, but it is expected that credit growth will be 12 percent.