Property industry among drivers of bank credit growth in Q1

LPBank, which led the banking industry with 11.7% credit growth, saw its outstanding loans grow by around VND30 trillion from the beginning of the year to VND307 trillion by the end of the quarter.

Its loans outstanding to the wholesale and retail sectors increased by VND15 trillion, or half the growth, according to its financial report.

Techcombank, the lender with the second highest credit growth rate last quarter, had VND539 trillion in outstanding loans by the end of the first quarter, up VND37.4 trillion from the start.

Unlike LPBank, most of its growth came from lending to property developers, which rose by VND17 trillion, and the technology sector, up VND10 trillion.

Third placed HDBank’s outstanding loans grew by VND20 trillion to VND360 trillion driven by property and wholesale and retail.

Other lenders like SHB, MSB, and MB, also witnessed large increases in lending to the science and technology sector.

Most notably, SHB’s loans to it jumped 16-fold to VND3.2 trillion.

Analyzing the growth, SSI Research said lending to the property sector expanded due to developers’ ongoing need to restructure existing debts.

The low growth rate reflected the weak credit demand, it said.

Loans to most sectors either declined or barely grew in the first quarter, with consumer loans falling by 1.77%, it added.