BBL profit boosted by post-flood loan demand
Bangkok Bank, Thailand's largest commercial bank, posted the consolidated net profit of Bt8.1 billion in the first quarter. The amount showed an increase of Bt2.2 billion or 36.7 per cent from the previous quarter and an increase of Bt1.6 billion or 25 p
Siam Commercial Bank earlier reported the quarterly net profit of Bt10 billion while Kasikornbank Bt8.9 billion.
Bangkok Bank President Chartsiri Sophonpanich attributed the increase to the good health of the overall economy in this quarter. Thailand has started to recover from the flooding in the fourth quarter of last year and businesses were steadily increasing their investments. Meanwhile the government was starting to put in place focused short and long-term investment plans which will be major economic drivers.
"Bangkok Bank has benefited from these public and private sector investment trends," he said in a statement.
Loan demands for rebuilding and renovation increased. In the quarter alone, the bank extended loans of Bt39.8 billion or a 2.7 per cent increase from end-2011 level. This represented a 15.7 per cent increase from the same period last year. At the end of March, outstanding loans stood at Bt1.5 trillion.
Loan demands in the first quarter were for working capital and long-term investment from various business sectors and customer segments, especially from large corporate and medium-sized SMEs, the bank said.
Against increasing loans, the bank showed the non-performing loans of only 2.6 per cent of total loans, against 2.7 per cent at the end of last year.
