An FE Credit saleswoman talks to a shopper about the company's financial products. The company has gained approval from the central bank to become a joint-stock business. — Photo cafef.vn

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has approved consumer finance firm FE Credit to change its legal status from limited liability to joint stock.

The company is responsible for making a public announcement about the change in accordance with existing regulations.

The central bank has also approved FE Credit to increase its charter capital by VNĐ5 billion (more than US$215,000) to more than VNĐ7.3 trillion.

FE Credit is fully owned by the Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank).

The consumer finance firm is among the biggest in the sector, making total loans of VNĐ72.5 trillion in 2019, up 19 per cent on-year.

The company reported outstanding lending was nearly VND60.6 trillion in 2019, up 13.75 per cent on-year.

Pre-tax profit rose 8.2 per cent on-year to nearly VND4.5 trillion in 2019. The company announced its return-on-asset (ROA) and return-on-equity (ROE) ratios were 5.5 per cent and 34.8 per cent, respectively.

The company has contributed 40-50 per cent of VPBank’s total profit in recent years.  — VNS