LPB [BUY +54.9%] - Maintaining expectation for upfront banca fees in 2022/23

- We raise our target price (TP) by 1.7% to VND24,400/share and maintain a BUY rating for LPB.

- Our higher TP is mainly derived from a 6.9% aggregate increase in our projection for 2022-2026F NPAT, which is partly offset by an increase in our cost of equity from 12.5% to 13.0%

- We raise our projection for 2022F NPAT by 7.2% to VND5.1tn (+78.3% YoY), which is primarily driven by (1) a 2.1% increase in NII and (2) 22.3% increase in NOII following our upward revisions in pure NFI, gains from investment securities and net other income that are partly offset by a 19.1% increase in provision expenses.