Sacombank (STB) Q3 Profit Falls 51.9% as Provisioning Surges

Overview

Sacombank (STB), listed on HOSE, reported Q3 pre-tax profit of VND1,757 billion, down 51.9% year on year, according to its consolidated Q3/2026 financial statements. The decline came as risk provisioning rose 5.5 times and net interest income fell 33.6%, while the bank raised VND46,270 billion in the quarter through certificates of deposit and bonds.

Key Facts

• Q3 pre-tax profit: VND1,757 billion, down 51.9% year on year; this is the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year profit decline.
• Nine-month pre-tax profit: VND5,893 billion, down 46.4%.
• Net interest income: VND5,228 billion, down 33.6%, as interest expense rose 64.9%.
• Risk provisioning: VND5,729 billion, 5.5 times the year-earlier figure.
• Outstanding issued valuable papers: VND85,546 billion at 30 September, up VND46,270 billion from end-Q2; non-bond instruments, mainly certificates of deposit, rose from VND20,976 billion to VND60,266 billion.
• Bonds issued to credit institutions rose VND6,980 billion to VND25,280 billion, with coupons of 9.5-10% per year; the board approved a public offering of up to VND15,000 billion in 7- and 10-year bonds on 29 September.
• Total assets passed VND1 quadrillion after rising 18.5% in the quarter; customer deposits rose 19.7% to VND775,422 billion and loans rose 10.1% to VND700,347 billion.

What Happened

Sacombank’s Q3/2026 consolidated financial statements show funding costs rising faster than lending yields. From August the bank cut rates by 2 percentage points per year for import-export customers and said it narrowed the margin on that programme from about 2.79% to 0.79%. Net interest income fell to VND5,228 billion even as net fee income reached VND4,255 billion, 6.3 times the year-earlier level, lifting total operating income to VND10,306 billion while operating costs fell 31% to VND2,820 billion.

Those gains were offset by VND5,729 billion in risk provisioning, 5.5 times the prior-year figure, leaving pre-tax profit at VND1,757 billion. Off-balance-sheet, written-off bad debt rose from VND15,819 billion to VND34,938 billion in the quarter alone. On the funding side, the bank added VND46,270 billion of valuable papers, about 85% of it certificates of deposit with tenors of one to five years, and its board approved a public bond offering of up to VND15,000 billion.

Market Context

STB closed at VND66,300 on 30 October 2026 on HOSE. The result extends a run of four consecutive quarters of year-on-year profit decline for a bank whose earnings have been pressured by legacy asset quality and elevated funding costs. The scale of the balance-sheet expansion, with total assets up 18.5% in a single quarter, alongside a sharp rise in certificates of deposit and high-coupon bonds, points to a funding mix shifting toward higher-cost instruments across the Vietnamese banking sector.

Strategic Significance

The central question for long-term holders is whether the VND5,729 billion provisioning charge reflects front-loaded cleanup of legacy bad debt or the start of a new credit-cost cycle. The jump in written-off bad debt to VND34,938 billion suggests the bank is accelerating resolution of old problem assets, which could support future earnings if credit costs normalize. Against that, the reliance on certificates of deposit and 9.5-10% bonds raises the cost of funds precisely as the bank narrows margins on trade-finance lending, so net interest income recovery depends on cheaper deposits or stronger loan repricing.

What to Watch

• Q4/2026 financial statements, particularly whether provisioning stays near the Q3 level.
• Disclosure on the planned public bond offering of up to VND15,000 billion and its final coupon.
• Movement in the VND34,938 billion written-off bad-debt balance and any recoveries.
• Deposit mix and cost of funds in the next quarterly report, given the shift toward certificates of deposit.
• Any State Bank of Vietnam guidance on deposit-rate competition or provisioning standards.