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Positive profits helped banking stocks soar over the past time. (Photo: SGGP) Bad debts decreased Profit reports of commercial banks in Q1 of this year all hit the mark of several trillion Vietnamese dongs. Specifically, HDBank has just announced that its estimated pre-tax profit in the first quarter exceeded VND2 trillion, up more than 67 percent compared to the same period last year. Of which, profit from services was two times higher than that in the same period for the third consecutive quarter. By March 31, this year, this lender’s credit growth rose by 5.2 percent compared to that by December 31, last year. MBBank also informed that its profit was estimated at over VND4.57 trillion, 2.1 times higher than the same period last year. The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio dropped sharply from 1.46 percent at the beginning of the year to 1.14 percent. At the annual general meeting of shareholders (AGM) in early April, ACB leaders said that its profit in Q1 was estimated at above VND3.1 trillion, up more than 61 percent. Sharing at the AGM 2021, MSB’s leaders informed that its net revenue in the first quarter was more than VND2 trillion, an increase of 65 percent year-on-year, leading to an estimated pre-tax profit of VND1.2 trillion, 315 percent higher than the same period last year. As for the State-owned commercial banks, although the AGM has not been held, Vietcombank's leaders said that its pre-tax profit in the first quarter was estimated at VND7 trillion, up 34 percent year-on-year and equal to 28 percent of the target of VND25.2 trillion set for the whole year. With a positive Q1 profit, its profit target set for 2021 is within reach. In fact, Vietcombank is assigned the highest credit target among State-owned banks with 10.5 percent while other banks are only at the level of 6-7.5 percent. Many experts said that VietinBank can achieve a profit of US$1 billion this year, thanks to the shift of retail channel and the reduction of the bad debt …

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Fashion retailers like H&M have suffered from negative comments, photo Le Toan As a consequence of integrating the “nine-dash line” map into online shopping websites in the Chinese market, a great number of local young people have called for a boycott on the Swedish fashion brand, causing a week-long desert atmosphere to drift over most of its outlets in Vietnam. Xuan Huong, a 22-year-old student based in Hanoi, said that as soon as the case flared up, she became no longer interested in shopping with H&M. “I was very disappointed,” Huong stressed. “I used to be a fan of the brand because of the reasonable prices and eye-catching designs of most items. But from now, I may never purchase anything from H&M due to its disrespect to Vietnamese consumers who they have earned from for more than three years.” Dung Thang, a 25-year-old officer in the capital’s Ba Dinh district said, “Before this incident I had no intentions to buy any items from H&M because their quality is not good while also being overpriced. Now, this case has only cemented my decision.” Over a period of three days last week across Hanoi’s stores in Vincom Nguyen Chi Thanh and Vincom Mega Mall Royal City, there was a visible drop in the number of shoppers venturing into the store while visiting the malls. It was reported that customer numbers in other H&M outlets in Vincom Times City, AEON Hadong, and Vincom Mega Mall Ocean Park were slightly better, but not a patch on before the pandemic. A staff member in Vincom Times City even revealed that the number of customers is fewer than in 2020 at times when people were more inclined to avoid going out unless necessary. “The store last year was even more crowded than now,” the staff member said. Facing near emptiness for over a week, H&M Vietnam’s daily sales are at a large risk of seriously plunging, potentially interrupting its revenue targets in Vietnam for 2021. H&M’s financial report two years ago highlighted …

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The TCP Vietnam Investment JSC, which operates the parking lot at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC's Tan Binh District, said elevator construction would start within this month for completion in the next. This came in response to a request from the Department of Transport requiring TCP to complete elevator construction by the end of April after the company had missed the original deadline, set for mid-February on the occasion of the Lunar New Year. TCP said due to the Covid-19 pandemic, equipment ordered from Thailand would not arrive until the month's end. Last November, Tan Son Nhat, currently the largest airport in Vietnam, only designated one car lane for drop-off purposes, while two others would be used for pick-ups, and the last by taxis. The changes mean all ride-hailing services have to access the third, fourth or fifth floors of the TCP parking lot to pick up customers. Ride-hailing drivers also have to pay the airport VND25,000 ($1.08) each time to scoop up clients, instead of the previous VND10,000. It also means passengers have to carry their luggage to those floors. As there are currently only two elevators, many have had to use the stairs. A man carries his luggage up the stairs at the Tan Son Nhat parking lot to use ride-hailing services, November 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Minh. On April 5, ride-hailing firm Be reached a franchise agreement with the airport to pick up customers at its international terminal, with Grab working on a similar deal. Tan Son Nhat was designed to serve 25 million passengers per year by 2020, but since 2017, the airport had already served nearly 40 million per annum. Such fast growth has placed huge pressure on the airport, which has suffered regular overload. Currently, vehicles accessing the airport premises are allowed to stop for now more than three minutes to pick up or drop off customers. …

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