In the first nine months of the year, MB attracted an additional 4 million new customers.

VietNamNet•31/10/2023

Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB, stock code MBB) has just announced its business results for the third quarter of 2023 and the first three quarters of the year. Accordingly, MB maintained a positive growth rate, effectively managed operating costs, and continued to affirm its leading position in the digital transformation race of the banking industry.

Powerful digitalization

"For us, the definition of MB is no longer simply a bank; MB wants to become a digital enterprise," affirmed Mr. Luu Trung Thai, Chairman of the Board of Directors of MB, at a recent forum organized by Forbes. This determination is clearly demonstrated in MB's strategy of investing in technology and banking platforms, as well as the unique digital products MB brings to the market.

MB maintains and develops its digital ecosystem on two platforms: the MBBank App (for individual customers) and BIZ MBBank (for corporate customers). As of the end of September 2023, MB recorded 1.5 billion transactions on digital channels with a transaction value of 7 trillion VND. The volume of transactions on digital platforms remains high at 96%, comparable to top banks in Asia. Simultaneously, MB is among the top banks with over 10 million active accounts in Vietnam.

According to the head of MB, the bank has the potential to collaborate with over 200 partners through its mini-app model, directly providing services to 25 million customers. This is considered a useful and user-friendly model for both users and businesses and technology partners.

In early October 2023, MB was honored to receive the "Outstanding Asian Enterprise" award for the fourth consecutive time and had four solutions win the "Vietnam Digital Transformation 2023" award thanks to their high technological content, user-friendliness, and ability to meet customer experience needs.

Completed the 20% dividend distribution in cash and shares.

Always prioritizing the balance of interests among the bank, customers, shareholders, and investors, MB has completed the payment of cash dividends at a rate of 5% and stock dividends at a rate of 15% in the third quarter of 2023, in accordance with the resolution approved by shareholders.

Furthermore, MB is actively implementing the plan to increase its charter capital, which was approved at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Specifically, the total charter capital is expected to increase in 2023 from VND 45,340 billion (as of December 31, 2022) to VND 52,141 billion. The additional capital will mainly be used for capacity building investments, including investments in systems, technology solutions, headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City and key areas, as well as supplementing working capital.

Maintaining stable growth

In the first nine months of 2023, MB's consolidated pre-tax profit reached over VND 20,000 billion, a 10% increase compared to the first nine months of 2022. Of this, the bank itself reported a profit of VND 18,866 billion, a 15% increase compared to the first nine months of last year, demonstrating stable growth in the bank's business operations.

The bank recorded positive credit growth, with total outstanding loans across the group reaching nearly VND 577,000 billion, equivalent to an increase of nearly 14% compared to 2022. This is also a higher growth rate than the average for the entire banking industry. In addition, MB's customer deposits also grew by 8.1% compared to the previous year, reaching VND 479,733 billion.

The bank's net interest margin (NIM) decreased slightly by 0.08% compared to 2022. A representative from MB stated that this was due to MB's focus on reducing lending interest rates to support businesses amidst challenging economic conditions, in line with the policies of the Government and the State Bank of Vietnam.

In the context of a challenging economic environment, MB has focused on ensuring safety indicators, optimizing operational efficiency, and managing costs since the beginning of the year. Besides enhancing the customer service experience, the digitalization process has significantly reduced operating costs, improved operational efficiency, and better managed risks according to international ESG standards. As a result, the group's CIR (operating expenses/total income) has improved significantly, optimizing by an additional 2% compared to the same period in 2022; specifically, the bank's CIR decreased to 28.5%.

In the last three months of the year, as well as in the following years, MB will continue to invest systematically and strongly in digital transformation, continuously developing and refining its key digital platforms to provide the most convenient experience for customers.

“We have identified that digital platforms will contribute approximately 50% of the bank's revenue within the next four years,” shared Mr. Luu Trung Thai, Chairman of the Board of Directors of MB. This will be the “lever” for MB to realize its strategic goal of becoming a leading digital enterprise and financial group, as set for the 2022-2026 period.

Thu Loan

Source