Some banks report profit rise, others see higher NPLs
The country's 10 listed banks reported a combined net profit in the first three months of Bt44.33 billion, slightly up from the Bt43.17 billion reported in the same period last year, led by Siam Commercial Bank, Kasikornbank and Krungthai Bank.
However, the country’s fifth largest bank by assets, Krungsri (Bank of Ayudhya), a member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), showed the highest quarterly net growth by recording growth of 32.6 per cent to Bt4.4 billion.
The growth was helped along by net interest income from lending in the corporate segment as well as net fees and service income from the business transfer of the Bangkok branch of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU).
The business transfer from BTMU also bolstered the first-quarter lending of Krungsri, whose outstanding loans in the first quarter surged by Bt222 billion, representing a 21.9 per cent rise compared to December 2014. However, for Krungsri alone, its lending dropped by 1 per cent.
Non performing loans (NPLs) represented 2.36 per cent compared to 2.79 per cent in December 2014.
Tisco Financial Group, the ninth bank by assets, turned around its performance by recording net profit growth of 28 per cent to Bt1.2 billion even if its lending plunged for five quarters in a row.
Profits from investments and the decrease of loan loss provisions contributed to the turnaround.
Krungthai Bank, CIMB Thai Bank (CIMBT) and Kiatnakin Bank all reported a drop in net profit as they set aside higher loan loss provisions.
KTB’ net profit was Bt7.86 billion, showing a decrease of 5.23 per cent from the same period last year.
KTB set aside quarterly normalised provisions of Bt2.1 billion, which increased by Bt600 million from the same quarter last year, given the expansion in the bank’s loan portfolio. The bank may consider setting aside quarterly additional provisions for bad debts, doubtful accounts and losses on impairment in order to strengthen its provisioning level in line with prudent banking practices.
NPLs increased to 2.82 per cent from 2.41 per cent at the end of last year, while lending during the period dipped 0.05 per cent from the end of last year.
CIMBT underperformed in the banking industry as its net profit dropped by 70 per cent year on year to Bt130.60 million due to a 117.6 per cent year-on-year increase in provisions. CIMBT’s NPLs increased to 3.7 per cent in the first quarter compared to 3.1 per cent from the end of last year.
Kiatnakin Bank’s net profit dropped by 8 per cent and NPLs increased 6.5 per cent from 5.6 per cent at the end of last year.
Siam Commercial Bank leads the banking sector in term of the amount of net profit even after the one-time expense of Bt1.5 billion to cover the funds embezzled from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Lat Krabang.
SCB reported net profit of Bt13.15 billion for the first three months against Bt13.13 billion and lending grew by only 1.8 per cent from the end of last year.
