State-owned VietinBank is selling 358 foreclosed properties pledged by loan borrowers, including four- and five-star hotels, worth a total of VND8 trillion (US$337.69 million) to realize their debts.

The properties will be either auctioned or negotiated for sale. The bank is also selling 38 vehicles, machines and other equipment. The most valuable asset is a five-star hotel in Da Nang City built on a 1,200-square-meter parcel of land with 236 rooms and priced at around VND600 billion.

The second most expensive are two four-star hotels in Hoi An with around 100 rooms each and priced at VND420 billion apiece.

The lender is also set to sell nearly 60 other hotels and properties in Hoi An.

Vietinbank is also selling office buildings, including one worth VND213 billion in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 12, and a water treatment plant worth VND108 billion in Gia Lai Province.

The bank is also selling 566 consumer loans at 90% of their remaining value. Other banks too have been selling off collateral assets this year to restructure their credit portfolio.

BIDV has been trying to auction a hydropower plant with a reserve price of VND325 billion but 10 attempts have proven unsuccessful. Sacombank has been selling bad debts this year. Banks saw credit quality deteriorate in the first quarter this year due to the slump in the property and consumer goods markets.

Bad debts in the sector rose from 2% to 2.91% in the first two months, according to the latest data available from the State Bank of Vietnam.

VNDirect analysts said in a note that banks’ rising bad debts are driven by the property sector, which accounts for 21% of all credit.

VnExpress International