BAM lays out expansion plans ahead of SET listing
Company aims for sustainable growth in the long term
Bangkok Commercial Asset Management (BAM) plans to become a broad-based manager of non-performing assets (NPAs) and non-performing loans (NPLs) after listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand next year.
"We are already managing NPAs and NPLs but we are trying to expand into new areas to support our core business. That will help us provide service to debtors trying to survive," company president Sumate Maneewattana said in an interview.
Already, the company has expanded its business into home rentals, authorised to sign short-term contracts of one to three years, advisory for debt restructuring, and issuing securitisation bonds.
The company also will apply to the Bank of Thailand for more new business. This includes residential development on land currently in its NPA portfolio, property management, home resale, and property valuation.
"If we can do all of this, it will support sustainable growth for our business in the long term, following our business strategy to be a professional one-stop service to manage NPAs and NPLs," he said.
It would also support its business strategy to help its customers solve their financial problems through debt-rehabilitation schemes, while the company generates returns to match its shareholder and investors' demands after it lists on the SET, he said.
Sumate said many of BAM's customers had questioned whether the company would change its business strategy after listing, shifting from its current policy of helping them survive debt crises. The company promises it will make no such shift.
Meanwhile, BAM has continued to maximise returns by managing its administration costs, and targets business growth averaging 20 per cent a year, he said.
BAM was established in 1999, one and a half years after the financial crisis of 1997, to manage NPAs and NPLs. In its 12 years of operation, it has managed more than Bt100 billion worth of NPAs and NPLs.
Currently, BAM manages 44,773 customer accounts with NPLs worth Bt236.63 billion and 14,209 NPA properties worth Bt36.72 billion. The company earned Bt1.75 billion in the first half of this year on revenue of Bt7.49 billion, which was 24.98 per cent over its target of Bt6 billion.
For the full year, the company targets net profit of Bt2.86 billion on revenue of Bt12 billion.
The company is in the process of organisational restructuring and adjusting risk management to follow its financial adviser's suggestions before applying to be a listed company next year.
