First-car scheme raises loan growth

SCB recorded the highest net lending growth among major banks at 1.9 per cent. Its outstanding loans as of the end of July increased to Bt1.38 trillion from Bt1.35 trillion in June. In the first seven months, SCB saw loan growth of 12.2 per cent from end of last year. Thanachart Bank, the market leader in hire-purchase, reported outstanding loans of Bt663 billion, up by 2 per cent from Bt649 billion in June, while Tisco Bank had outstanding loans of Bt212.15 billion, up by 3.3 per cent from June.
Kasikornbank’s lending in July reached Bt1.22 trillion, up by 1.3 per cent from June. The bank has a hire-purchase subsidiary, Kasikorn Leasing, which benefited from the first-car scheme and is one of key driver of total loan growth.
KBank’s loans in the first seven months increased by 5 per cent from the end of last year.
But some banks faced a drop in net loan dropped in July, led by TMB Bank, Bangkok Bank and Bank of Ayudhya.
Bangkok Bank, the country’s largest in terms of assets, reported outstanding loans of Bt1.41 trillion in July, a drop by 0.5 per cent from June. Still, the bank is on track to meet its full-year target because so far it has seen loan growth of 5.1 per cent since end-December.
TMB Bank’s lending in July dipped by 1.2 per cent from June; its outstanding loans were Bt393 billion. Yet its loans in the first seven months expanded by 4.9 per cent, leading analysts to believe it will be able to achieve its loan-growth target of 9 per cent this year.
Even though Bank of Ayudhya has a large auto-loan portfolio, its outstanding loans last month stood at Bt651.21 billion, down by 0.1 per cent from June.
In the first seven months, the bank’s loans expanded by only 4.6 per cent, the lowest growth in the entire industry. Analysts said it would therefore not be easy for it to achieve its 2012 loan-growth target of 11 per cent.