Proud to be one of the first joint stock commercial banks in Vietnam, Maritime Bank, with more than 18 years of experience, enjoyed a year of successful business and has become a top-tier powerful lender in the country.
In 2009, after the Government timely launched stimulus packages and monetary policies, Vietnam stayed clear of the heavy impacts of the global financial crisis. The economy began to revive and many banks announced positive earnings reports in the early months of the year.
Although bank profits slowed down in the fourth quarter of 2009 due to narrower lending and borrowing interest gaps and increasing attraction in other investment channels like gold, real estate and stock, many banks still maintained good earnings thanks to a high ratio of non-credit activities. One of such banks is Maritime Bank with revenues from credit activities accounting for only 25 percent of the total net profit.
As of December 31, 2009, the profit of Maritime Bank reached VND1,084 billion, up 132 percent from 2008. In addition, the growth of other indicators is stable. Particularly, Maritime Bank's total assets reached nearly VND65,000 billion and its mobilised deposits aggregated VND60,000 billion. At the end of 2009, the return on equity (ROE) ratio of the Maritime Bank was 50 percent. With outstanding progresses, before the year 2010 comes, Maritime Bank has raised its charter capital to VND3,000 billion.
Last year, together with expanding the individual customer network by opening more transaction offices, Maritime Bank pays high attention to corporate customers. As a reliable lender, Maritime Bank has signed many big credit contracts with the Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), the Vietnam National Coal - Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin), Investment and Industrial Development Corporation (Becamex IDC Corp) and other leading firms. On the interbank market, Maritime Bank is always regarded as a prestigious and potential partner. To achieve this, the bank has doubled its effort to ensure high liquidity. In fact, according to monthly reports, the percentage of solvency in the last seven days of Maritime Bank is, at all times, over 1.75 percent. This is the foundation for sustainable development of the bank.
Closing a successful year of operations with strong growths, Maritime Bank is being directed to become one of the leading commercial banks in terms of supplying professional financial services of international standards.
From January 1, 2010, Maritime Bank officially introduced the new logo. Together with repositioning the brand, the bank has also developed a breakthrough working plan for all aspects with a commitment to diversify and enhance the quality of products and services to bring maximum benefits to its customers and shareholders.
Luu Hiep
Vietnamese
