HCM City Development Commercial Joint Stock Bank or HDBank has been approved by the State Bank of Vietnam to open 45 new branches and transaction offices in 2018.

If the plan materialises, HDBank will increase its network to 315 transaction points.

In 2007, HDBank opened 19 branches and transaction offices, taking the total number of transaction points to 270.

Due to the expansion of its network and business plan, HDBank recruited more than 2,600 people in 2017, taking the total number of staff to more than 13,700.

Last year, the bank recorded a pre-tax profit of VND1.95 trillion (US$86 million), an increase of 113.7 per cent over 2016.

The sharp increase in profit was attributed to an increase in the scale of lending and settlement of overdue debt, bad debt and non-performing assets as well as an increase in income from other services and securities investment and business.

The net income of HDBank last year increased by VND1.7 trillion, while income from investment in securities, mainly government bonds, increased by VND333 billion. The income from other activities rose by VND103 billion, from service activities by VND78 billion and from capital contribution by VND31 billion. — VNS