NCB Posts 140% Profit Surge as Deposits Outpace Major Vietnamese Banks

Overview

National Citizen Bank (NCB) reported nine-month pre-tax profit of more than VND 1,570 billion, up 140% year-on-year, according to its third-quarter financial statements. Customer deposits rose by VND 65,000 billion to over VND 185,000 billion, a pace that exceeded the incremental deposit gains at several larger private banks, while the lender’s non-performing loan ratio fell from 8.6% to nearly 4.9%.

Key Facts

• Nine-month pre-tax profit exceeded VND 1,570 billion, up 140% versus the same period last year.
• Third-quarter profit alone reached nearly VND 850 billion, roughly 4.4 times the year-earlier figure.
• Customer deposits rose from about VND 128,000 billion at the start of the year to more than VND 185,000 billion by end-September, an increase of VND 65,000 billion.
• Term deposits contributed most of the gain, rising nearly VND 50,000 billion to VND 116,000 billion; demand deposits rose more than 60% to over VND 18,200 billion.
• Customer loans grew 55% year-to-date to VND 150,660 billion, with short-term lending more than doubling to nearly VND 55,400 billion.
• Total assets reached VND 238,220 billion, up 46% from the end of 2025.
• The NPL ratio fell from 8.6% at the start of the year to nearly 4.9%, and charter capital was raised to nearly VND 29,300 billion through a private placement.

What Happened

The figures come from NCB’s third-quarter financial statements, as reported by Vietnamese financial media. The bank’s deposit growth of roughly 51% year-to-date far outstrips the approximately 10% recorded across the banking system, and the absolute increase exceeded the incremental deposits gathered by Techcombank and private lenders including ACB, VIB and OCB. NCB also ranks among the highest payers of savings interest rates, which helps explain the funding momentum.

On the lending side, NCB said credit growth was supported by key projects within the State Bank of Vietnam’s priority categories. Since late June, loans to major projects developed by Vingroup, Sun Group and Masterise have been excluded from banks’ credit growth quotas, a regulatory change that gives lenders room to expand. The bank cited participation in infrastructure and urban projects, including the Trần Hưng Đạo bridge and the Gia Bình airport link road in Hà Nội, APEC 2027 works in Phú Quốc, and financing for the central square and administrative centre and the Rạch Chiếc national sports complex in Hồ Chí Minh City.

Market Context

NCB is a small-cap bank whose deposit base is roughly 10% that of the state-owned lenders and under 20% of the large private banks, so percentage growth flatters its absolute scale. The stock trades on HNX, where small-cap bank shares are thinly traded and sensitive to quarterly earnings. The reported profit jump and the sharp drop in the NPL ratio address two of the main concerns that have weighed on NCB’s valuation: asset quality and earnings power. The broader Vietnamese banking sector has seen system deposit growth of about 10% this year, so NCB’s expansion stands out against a backdrop of moderate sector-wide funding growth.

Strategic Significance

The core question for long-term investors is whether NCB’s growth is durable or reflects a low base and high funding costs. Paying top-of-market deposit rates to fund 55% loan growth compresses net interest margin unless the loan book is repriced accordingly, and the shift toward short-term corporate lending tied to large property and infrastructure projects concentrates credit risk in a single sector. The fall in the NPL ratio from 8.6% to 4.9% is meaningful, but the filing does not break out how much came from write-offs, recoveries or loan sales versus underlying improvement. The capital raise to nearly VND 29,300 billion in charter capital provides a buffer, yet NCB remains sub-scale relative to peers, so execution on asset quality over the next several quarters will determine whether the earnings surge is repeatable.

What to Watch

• Fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 results, particularly net interest margin and cost of funds.
• Detail on the NPL reduction: recoveries, write-offs or loan sales behind the fall from 8.6% to 4.9%.
• Loan concentration disclosures for Vingroup, Sun Group and Masterise-linked projects.
• State Bank of Vietnam credit growth quota allocations for 2027 and any change to the project-lending exemption.
• Foreign-ownership and charter-capital filings following the private placement.