AsemconnectVietnam - That was shared by Mr. Luu Trung Thai, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank - MB (stock code MBB) at the Investors Conference, held on the afternoon of March 6, 2024.

MB Chairman said that in 2024, difficulties will still exist. We hope that bad debt will go sideways and go down. Weak demand means growth will slow down. Although foreign investment (FDI) is good, demand for personal credit (personal finance) is in a flat state. The industry's profit margin in general is declining in 2023. If MB can keep the sideways plan, it will be good. MB targets profit growth in 2024 at 10%.
Mr. Thai shared that in the first quarter of 2024, according to market rules, credit growth is not high (usually January increases, February and March usually decrease), MB can keep the increase in credit balance at a horizontal level.
Talking about the growth motivation of the banking industry in 2024, according to Dr. Dam Nhan Duc, Chief Economist of MB, comes from many factors. First of all, with a good macroeconomic foundation, businesses will be able to take advantage of this opportunity, with high credit growth rates. According to Mr. Duc, in 2023 the only motivation will be public investment, in 2024 it will come from export motivation, consumer demand has recovered. This will support the banking industry to grow better than in 2023.
Regarding MB's operations, in 2023, the Bank has maintained a stable and steady growth rate. Member companies grow sustainably and maintain market share, such as MB Securities Company (MBS), MB Insurance Company (MIC)... Group-wide profit of more than 26,300 billion VND, at the highest level ever since. Regarding asset quality, if viewed quarterly, MB has overcome the most difficult period, bad debts are well provisioned.
Also according to Mr. Duc, MB has certainty, consistency, stability..., but still has the determination to fight more in terms of "personality" of innovation and creativity, especially in the field of digital transformation, stemming from history begin.
From 2017 to 2024, MB's capitalization will grow 7 times, much higher than the VN-Index. However, MBB shares are still trading much cheaper than the market.
"People often say that cheap things are bad things, but with MB it's completely different," Mr. Duc emphasized.
Sharing at the investor meeting, Mr. Luu Hoai Son, Director of MB Planning & Marketing Department, said that in 2024, the Bank expects credit growth to be higher than the assigned level of 16% and above. Based on growth in the fourth quarter of 2023, MB expects profits to reach more than VND28,800 billion. MB's growth drivers in the period 2024 and the following years, MB expects to be based on 3 major growth drivers.
The first is from retail. If you look internally, MB has many favorable conditions to make this growth strategy reasonable. MB currently has more than 26 million customers, expected to reach 30 million by 2024. Customers using MB's most basic product, loans, have 453,000 customers and are growing well. This is a very hopeful point in the future.
Outstanding retail debt and outstanding loans to micro SME customers account for 51% of MB's total debt structure and the growth rate is still very good, which is the driving force to help MB grow very well in 3- The past 4 years. Currently, the number of customers interacting regularly on App and BizMB is very high, about 10-15% of loan transactions can be transferred on digital platforms and we hope to expand in 2024.
“Retail will help MB's CASA continue to grow in the near future. In the context of 2024 when credit institutions enter a new economic cycle, that is, lending interest rates decrease, the advantage of CASA and capital costs will help MB have good conditions to provide customers with low-cost loans. Reasonable fees while still ensuring high profits in the future," Mr. Son shared.
The second comes from digital transformation. In recent years, MB has invested heavily in digital transformation, connecting with the customer ecosystem across platforms, creating a good experience for customers. Thanks to digital transformation, the number of transactions has grown very high, but operating costs and staff costs for these transactions have remained the same.
The third growth driver is Group synergy. Currently, MB's ecosystem is a financial group with a full range of financial services, from securities, banking, insurance..., creating the fullest and largest endogenous motivation in the banking and finance industry. This has shown clear results through the growth of each member, for example, the number of MBS customers increased more than 3 times within 2 years.
“Besides the advantages, MB also identifies certain difficulties and challenges. The first is credit management. Currently, MB has implemented a multi-layer credit risk management model. Besides, the Bank also transformed its business model towards ESG to ensure sustainable development," Mr. Son said.
At the meeting, Mr. Thai also shared that it is expected that in 2024, MB will complete the plan to receive and transfer OceanBank.
N.Nga
Source: VITIC/Tinnhanhchungkhoan