Awards for Excellence 2009: Vietnam

In Vietnam Asia Commercial Bank has been the top lender for several years, and the firm retains Euromoney’s award this year for its ability to maintain growth in a difficult period without suffering a significant drop in asset quality. While the bank did report an increase in gross non-performing loans from $2 million to $20 million, that figure represents only 0.25% of assets and the bank’s NPL ratio was 0.9% as against an industry average of 3.5%. The bank reported net income growth of 15.7% to a total of an equivalent of $142 million, and had the best figures for return on assets and return on equity of its peers. Analysts covering Vietnam say that ACB’s nearest rival, Sacombank, might be closing the gap, but for now Asia Commercial Bank is Vietnam’s strongest bank.