Banking

Banking

4Q13F: Weaker bottom lines, but expected on seasonality. We expect bank results to
repeat the usual QoQ weakening in bottom lines on seasonality: In the fourth quarter, opex
and provisions go up QoQ to a extent that overwhelms the strong loan from the high season
for working capital loans. We see small upside risk to our sector 2013F loan growth of 10% (vs.
9.1% YTD for 11M13) from the seasonally strong loan growth in December. 4Q13F NIM is
expected to slip due to the negative implication of the interest rate cuts. We forecast a 50%
increase YoY and 6% decrease QoQ in the sector’s 4Q13F earnings, with limited downside risk
to 2013F earnings forecast.
Downside risk in 2014. We see the political unrest as bringing downside risk to our 2014F
earnings forecast (+5%), mainly in the areas of loan growth and NIM. We expect a slowdown
in sector loan growth to 7% in 2014F from 10% in 2013F. The political unrest clouds the fate of
public investment and erodes private sector confidence in business expansion. We thus
believe 2014F loan growth prospects are to a great extent dependent on successful formation
of a new government and recovery in exports. Downside risk to GDP growth from the political
unrest could trigger more policy rate cuts, which would have a negative impact on NIM. We
forecast a 7 bps squeeze in the sector’s 2014 NIM even without more interest rate cuts.
Top picks – KBANK and KTB. We maintain KBANK and KTB as out top picks. KBANK has the
highest non-interest income to cushion against downside risk to loan growth plus the most
small SME loans, which seems to be the segment with the strongest growth potential. KTB
remains a top pick on: 1) lowest valuation in terms of PBV/ROE of large banks; 2) rising
market share of loans and fee income as a result of a more proactive strategy and better
service after reorganization by the new CEO; 3) benefit from L-T acceleration in public
investment.