Moody’s upgrades VIB’s ratings to B1

HANOI, VIETNAM – Media OutReach – 7 November 2018 – Moody’s Investors Service has just upgraded
the baseline credit assessment (BCA) and adjusted BCA of Vietnam International
Bank (VIB) to B1 and Counterparty Risk Assessment (CRA) to Ba3. Previously,
right after upgrading the Government of Vietnam’s long-term issuer and senior
unsecured ratings to Ba3 from B1, Moody’s upgraded the long-term local and
foreign currency bank deposit and issuer ratings of VIB to B1 from B2 on August
14, 2018.

The upgrade in VIB’s BCA and other banks’
is driven by the higher Macro Profile of Vietnam, progress in writing off
legacy problem assets and profitability of the banks, according to a report
from Moody’s.

In addition to the upgrade, VIB was
recognized by State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and Vietnam Asset Management Company
(VAMC) as one of five banks to re-purchase all bad debts that VIB sold to VAMC.
Moody’s and VIB expect profitability for VIB to improve over the next 12-18
months as the burden of credit costs is reduced because the bank has no debt at
VAMC.

VIB is also known as one of the only two
local banks ready to apply Base II standards. To date, VIB has completed the
implementation and waited for SBV’s approval for applying the standards in
2018.

The financial institution is now one of
banks with best profitability ratios and risk management in Vietnam. As VIB’s
profit before tax reached VND1,720 billion in the first 9 months 2018, its
return on equity ratio (ROE) reached nearly 20% and expected to go up in
Q4/2018. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio (CAR) is more than 12% and CAR,
under Basel II, is over 9.5%.

Earlier, Moody’s held a conference named
“Inside ASEAN – Spotlight in Vietnam” in HCMC on September 2018, assessing
Vietnam’s economy, Vietnamese banking system’s ratings, giving forecast on the
economy’s outlook and local bank’s performance in 2019. Mr Ho Van Long, Deputy
CEO at VIB, is the only representative from local banks to be invited by
Moody’s to join panel discussion in the conference.

Analysts from Moody’s expected Vietnamese
banks’ asset quality and profits to set to improve in 2019. Raising new capital
from external funding and retained profits provided banks with better capital
foundation. Moody’s analysts also asserted that Vietnamese banks’ CAR is
improved but still lower than their peers in the region.