Thailand
Thailand: KBank tallies 86% Q4 profit gain
Kasikornbank’s (KBank) unaudited fourth-quarter net profit rose 86% year-on-year to 10.2 billion baht mainly because of lower loan-loss provisions, higher net interest income and rising non-interest income.
The bank delivered a 5.3% year-on-year increase to its net interest income, rising to 23 billion baht in the three months to December, and a 4.8% year-on-year lift to its non-interest income to 15.2 billion, it said in a statement. KBank set aside 6.87 billion baht in loan-loss provisions during the fourth quarter of 2016, down from 8.82 billion in the same period of 2015.
Its net interest margin (NIM) for the quarter fell to 3.47% from 3.66% year-on-year. For the full year, the country’s fourth-largest lender by assets saw its net profit edge up 1.77% to 40.2 billion baht as its impairment charges soared by 28% to 33.8 billion. The bank’s net interest income rose by 5.49% to 89.7 billion baht last year, and its non-interest income increased by 1.96% to 63.7 billion. KBank’s NIM declined to 3.52% in 2016 from 3.67% in the previous year. Its consolidated non-performing loans (NPLs) jumped by 31% to 65.1 billion baht for 2016. Its gross NPL ratio also rose to 3.32% at the end of December from 2.7% over the corresponding period a year ago.
The bank’s loans outstanding increased by 5.45% to 1.7 trillion baht at the end of 2016.
Its coverage ratio as of December stood at 131% of risk-weighted assets, up slightly from 130% a year earlier. Its capital adequacy ratio was at 18.8%, with first-tier capital of 15.2%.
President Pipit Aneaknithi said the bank plans to explore opportunities to expand its business into Indonesia, with several alternatives including mergers and acquisitions (M&A). It has discussed the matter with Indonesia’s regulators and studied several business models for banking business expansion there.
Indonesian regulators are open to foreign financial institutions acquiring local banks because it could strengthen the industry, he said. Any M&A action would require prudent study, said Mr Pipit.
KBANK shares closed yesterday on the SET at 185 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 809 million baht.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/finance/1182621/kbank-tallies-86-q4-profit-gain