Vietnam International Bank (VIB) aims to earn pre-tax profit of VND4.5 trillion (over US$193 million) in 2020, up 10 per cent year-on-year.

This goal was announced at the bank's Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in HCM City last week.

During the meeting, VIB's shareholders approved the plan to increase the charter capital to over VND11 trillion ($472 million) by distributing bonus shares at the rate of 20 per cent.

They also agreed to list the bank's shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange by the end of this year after completing the capital raising procedures.

As Viet Nam's economy has normalised after the COVID-19 pandemic, VIB said it believed that this year's plan is feasible.

During the first half of this year, VIB estimates its profit at VND2.35 trillion (over $100 million), surging nearly 30 per cent against last year's corresponding period or equivalent to 52 per cent of its yearly target.

From the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, VIB had paid special attention to ensuring business operations such as setting strict regulations to ensure the health of bank staff and customers.

The bank has offered customers affected by the pandemic interest rate reductions of between 0.5 and 2 percentage points. According to VIB, its total outstanding loans for the COVID-19 financial support package reached over VND8.7 trillion ($374 million).

With a high-quality customer segment and secured loans, the impact of COVID-19 on VIB's loan portfolio was low, equaling 0.35 per cent of total outstanding loans at only about VND500 billion ($21.5 million). Accordingly, non-performing loans of the bank remained low at less than 2 per cent as of May 31, 2020.

Besides, VIB has also launched digital products and card products to encourage online transactions and non-cash payment. VIB has been recognised as the first bank to successfully apply virtual card technology, big data and AI, allowing customers to own credit cards in just a few hours, manage smart cards with the MyVIB mobile application without support from a call centre or branch. — VNS