Competitive advantages as a push for MB

Strong Credit Growth

By the end of Q1 2025, MB recorded a credit growth of 2.31%—a solid pace compared to the industry average, according to MB's CEO Pham Nhu Anh. He noted that the bank is on track to fully utilise its 2025 credit growth quota of around 24%.
MB posted a consolidated pre-tax profit of VND 8,386 billion in Q1 2025, up 44.7% year-on-year. Of this, standalone profit reached VND 7,689 billion, an increase of 46.2% from the same period last year.

With a 24% credit growth cap, MB ranks among the top banks with the highest quota allocations and may even receive more if its disbursement growth remains strong and hits the cap early. This is further supported by MB’s advantage in taking over the struggling OceanBank, now undergoing restructuring under the new brand MBV.

According to Pham Nhu Anh, MB continues to maintain a credit portfolio structure with over 50% focused on retail and the remainder targeting large enterprises, SMEs, and even micro-enterprises. This has been MB’s strategy and will remain so in 2025. In addition to corporate clients and SMEs, MB is also expected to benefit from the real estate market recovery and the acceleration of public investment disbursements.

Ecosystem Advantage

MB boasts a large ecosystem, with multiple subsidiaries holding strong positions across several sectors: life and non-life insurance (MIC ranked 6th in total premium revenue in 2024; MB Ageas Life ranked 9th in new business premiums), consumer finance (MB Shinsei - Mcredit ranked in the top 3 for market share in 2024), securities (MBS ranked 6th in brokerage market share), and asset/fund management (MB Capital Management, MB Cambodia, MB Asset Management). Additionally, MBV—the acquired bank—is being restructured into a healthy digital bank with bad debts already resolved.

This ecosystem creates cross-selling opportunities for products and services, amplifies digital transformation investment value, and leverages a large customer base to boost credit growth.

Regarding customer risk, tariff-related loans linked to U.S. exports account for just 0.6% of MB’s total credit portfolio. SSI Research assesses that the direct risk from tariffs for MB is minimal. Meanwhile, risks associated with real estate and energy clients like Novaland and Trung Nam are expected to ease as their projects make legal progress. MB even plans to expand loans to renewable energy projects, aiming to increase their share from 8.5% to 9.5% of total credit, aligning with Power Development Plan VIII and preparing to capitalize on new entrants in the sector.

Additional Advantages

MB maintains one of the lowest capital mobilization costs in the industry thanks to its leading CASA (Current Account Savings Account) ratio. As of the end of Q1 2025, despite a 7% year-on-year decrease, MB still led among private banks with VND 251,624 billion in CASA deposits, followed by Techcombank (VND 179,319 billion), ACB (VND 118,570 billion), and Sacombank (VND 100,910 billion).

Though smaller in scale than Big 4 banks like Vietcombank (VND 503,700 billion), VietinBank (VND 382,351 billion), and BIDV (VND 361,401 billion), MB is seen as a “Big 41” player—not just for its CASA leadership, but also for its technological investment capacity. MB allocates 80% of its tech budget to cybersecurity, focusing on defending against spyware and securing its banking applications.

By the end of 2025, MB targets a 6% increase in its customer base, aiming for 35 million customers—a move that would significantly boost its scale, credit market share, and influence through expanded outreach.

With an improving cost-to-income ratio, secured asset quality, and a target NPL (non-performing loan) ratio below 1.7%, MB also aims to raise its charter capital to over VND 81,000 billion this year. This would place it among the top banks in terms of capital and provide greater capacity to support lending and achieve business goals in 2025 and beyond.

According to brokerage firms, MBB stock is currently trading at a 7% discount compared to the sector median, with a projected 2025 P/B of 1.2x. Meanwhile, its forecasted 2025 ROE stands at 20.8%, significantly higher than the sector median of 17.6%. Therefore, MBB is considered attractively valued, combining high profitability, a resilient multi-industry ecosystem, and market-leading credit growth potential.