Eleven SET-listed banks deliver a 16% year-on-year increase in third-quarter net profit, led by small player Kiatnakin

Eleven SET-listed banks delivered a 16% year-on-year increase in net profit for the three months to September, thanks largely to lower impairment charges.

Banks reported a combined net profit of 54 billion baht during the July-to-September quarter, up from 46.6 billion posted over the same period last year, according to their filings to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).

They set aside a total of 39.1 billion baht for the third quarter, down significantly from 50.3 billion in the corresponding period a year ago.

Kiatnakin Bank was the best performer among its industry peers in terms of percentage.

The small bank’s quarterly consolidated net profit stood at 1.69 billion baht, up 83% from 923 million yearon-year, with higher income from net interest, fees and services cancelling out higher impairment charges.

The bank’s net interest rate income surged 19.5% year-on-year to 2.96 billion baht in the third quarter, and its net fee and services income rose 7.7% to 888 million. It put aside loan-loss reserves of 1.01 billion baht in the quarter, up from 941 million a year earlier.

Krungthai Bank (KTB), the country’s second-largest lender by assets, was the No.2 performer, with a 61% rise in quarterly consolidated net profit to 8.62 billion baht.

The gain was attributed to a sharp reduction in its impairment cost to 7.64 billion baht for the quarter from 10.45 billion a year earlier.

KTB’s loan-loss coverage ratio stood at 106% at the end of September. In the third quarter last year, KTB was required by the central bank to fully set aside provisions for loans borrowed by debt-ridden Sahaviriya Steel Industries Plc (SSI) and its loss-making subsidiary SSI UK after it defaulted.

The 12.5% rise in net interest income to 21.6 billion baht for the three months to September helped earnings, though KTB’s net non-interest income fell by 17.3% year-on-year to 5.59 billion baht.

KTB’s gross non-performing loans (NPLs) surged by 28.9% year-on-year to 98.4 billion baht in September. Its gross NPL ratio jumped to 4.2% at the end of last month from 3.2% in December. Corporate, small-business and retail loans, as well as the decline in KTB’s loans outstanding, contributed to the NPL upsurge.

KTB’s total loans dropped by almost 6% to 1.9 trillion baht at the end of September. For the first nine months, the bank’s earnings shot up 14.4% year-onyear to 24.84 billion baht.

On the opposite end, TMB Bank was the worst performer in the third quarter. Its unreviewed consolidated net profit plunged 34% year-on-year to 1.85 billion baht as larger loan-loss provisions took a bite out of earnings. The bank set aside 2.54 billion baht in provisions for the period, up from 820 million a year earlier.

Bangkok Bank, Thailand’s largest lender by assets, was the only bank among the big four that saw earnings dip. It posted a 11% year-on-year fall in unreviewed consolidated net profit for the period.