Sacombank, Vietnam’s fifth-largest partly private lender by assets, reported first quarter net profit rose nearly 12 percent to VND452.98 billion (US$22 million).

Total assets as of March 31 slipped 1.2 percent from the end of 2010 to VND140.10 trillion, the Ho Chi Minh City-based bank said in a statement on its business results excluding other affiliates.

The statement, compiled on Monday, said outstanding loans of Sacombank, or the Saigon Thuong Tin Bank, totaled VND77.49 trillion on March 31, up 1.5 percent from the start of this year.

First-quarter gross profit of VND589 billion made up nearly 22 percent of its annual target of 2.7 trillion dong. Shareholders approved a target to raise the bank’s gross profit this year by 12 percent from 2010 at an annual meeting on April 2.

Sacombank, 10 percent owned by ANZ , has also projected a 12 percent rise in total assets to 160 trillion dong this year.

Shares in the lender shed 0.76 percent to VND13,100 at 0205 GMT on Wednesday.