"Even in the very tough environment we are seeing, our employees have maintained a high quality and reliable service for our customers and this is helping us deliver stellar performance year after year," said Jens Lottner, CEO of Techcombank. Last year, the bank continued to reduce costs while focusing on building deposits in its current accounts and savings accounts (CASA), which Lottner described as a "stable and cheap" source of funding. Techcombank’s CASA ratio, which reflects the percentage of the bank’s total deposits that are CASA, jumped from 46.1 percent in 2020 to 50.5 percent last year, on its way to the bank’s target of 55 percent by 2025. Techcombank’s net interest margin (NIM), a measure of the difference between the interest received by the bank and the amount paid out to lenders, also increased 69 basis points to 5.6 percent during the year. "Together, these improving metrics, along with our effective cost management, translated into an excellent profit before tax … [Read more...] about Techcombank eyes seat at top Southeast Asian banking table
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Gold appeal sparkles amid rise of inflation
Gold is yet again becoming a safe haven asset, and some customers want more ways to get involved, Le Toan The World Gold Council (WGC) believes that the appetite for gold is often hampered by the interest rate, as when interest rates rise, gold loses its appeal. However, inflation is also a tailwind to gold demand as a common safe-haven asset. The USD tends to weaken when the Fed raises interest rates, which enhances gold’s demand. “Furthermore, what happens in China’s consumer market has had a big impact as it’s the world’s largest consumer market for gold. We expect China to start to emerge from the worst of the pandemic and that will support consumer demand,” the WGC noted last week. “It is difficult to predict how the geopolitical situation will play out. It depends on where inflation goes, but inflation is certainly the biggest driver at the moment, which will probably support institutional investment demand in the next quarter.” Meanwhile, the demand for gold in Vietnam … [Read more...] about Gold appeal sparkles amid rise of inflation
SEA Games 31: ticket sold out, no room near stadium before men’s football final
Three fans from Thanh Hoa are finding a room near the stadium (Photo: SGGP) On the way, two groups of fans with nearly 10 people were caught asking locals about renting hotels and accommodation. However, they hardly found a hotel room near the stadium where the match will take place, so they then drove the car to continue searching. Mr. Quan – a fan from Thanh Hoa Province who has just arrived in Viet Tri City after 5 hours of driving - said that he took his family members to Phu Tho to watch U23 Vietnam play the semi-finals. Because it is still early, he wanted to rent a hotel or motel room to rest. He moaned no more rooms near the stadium as he wanted a room near the yard to walk to the stadium. He planned when the match finished, he and his family members went back to the hotel for sleeping and in the next day, they will visit some places before returning to Thanh Hoa. Mr. Quan bought a few glasses of sugarcane juice to fuel up before continuing to search for a hotel to … [Read more...] about SEA Games 31: ticket sold out, no room near stadium before men’s football final