Vietnam’s lenders are picking up speed, as they post the second highest growth by country in the Top 100 Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) banks ranking. The largest increase in the ranking belongs to Cambodia, which grew by 30.4%, although it has only one lender – Acleda Bank – in the ranking. Cambodia also accounts for only 0.1% of the total assets in the ranking, down from 0.19% the year before. Vietnamese banks – 19 of which made the ranking – grew their assets by the second highest amount, 15.66%, and although they still contribute a relatively small share of the total assets in the ranking, 7.46%, they are up from 6.21% in the previous year. The ranking remains dominated by Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, which jointly hold nearly three-quarters of the total assets.
Growth does not necessarily translate into profitability. Indeed, with aggregate return on assets (ROA) of 0.8% and return on capital (ROC) of 12.19%, Vietnam is placed at the tail-end of the Asean ranking for returns. Instead, as has often been the case in the past, the champion in that category is Indonesia, which boasts an ROA and ROC of 2.7% and 25.31%, respectively.