Strong momentum in both net interest income (NII) and non-interest income (NOII) in 9M 2018 offers investors an attractive entry point to take a more positive view of Vietnamese banks, especially in light of 21 months of strong earnings in the sector. NII across our coverage universe during 9M 2018 grew at 19.7% YoY and comes on top of strong CY2017 growth of 23.2%. NII constituted 75% of total operating income (TOI) in 2017.