Ten banks record B177bn in net profit. Ten local commercial banks, including nine listed on the SET, reported consolidated net profit for the first nine months of 2023 of 177 billion baht, up 15.1% year-on-year, attributed to rising interest income as a result of policy rate hikes. Bangkok Post

Ten banks record B177bn in net profit

Ten local commercial banks, including nine listed on the SET, reported consolidated net profit for the first nine months of 2023 of 177 billion baht, up 15.1% year-on-year, attributed to rising interest income as a result of policy rate hikes.

Bangkok Bank (BBL), the country's largest lender by total assets, reported a net profit of 32.8 billion baht, up 50.8% year-on-year as a result of a 33% increase in net interest income (NII), in line with the rising interest rate trend, the bank said in a statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

The Thai economy will continue to face challenges from global economic uncertainties as central banks maintain high interest rates to control inflation, while China's economic slowdown could impede exports and geopolitical tensions continue to boil over, according to BBL.

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Kasikornbank (KBank) reported a net profit of 33.0 billion baht, an increase of 1.35% year-on-year as the expected credit loss gained 31.4% in the first nine months year-on-year.

NII increased by 13.2%, in line with the policy rate hikes, despite an increase in funding costs.

Krungthai Bank (KTB) posted a consolidated net profit of 30.5 billion baht, up 19.2% year-on-year as a result of a 26.2% increase in NII.

The uptick in interest income was attributed to loan growth of its strategically focused segment covering retail, corporate and government loans.

SCB X, the holding company of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), announced consolidated net profit of 32.5 billion baht, up 6.98% year-on-year.

Meanwhile SCB, the core pillar of the group, reported net profit of 11.8 billion baht in the third quarter, down 6.3% year-on-year, while the bank posted consolidated net profit of 36.6 billion baht, up 21.2% year-on-year, for the first nine months of 2023.

Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri) reported consolidated net profit of 25.2 billion baht, up 8% year-on-year.

The earnings were in line with healthy loan growth at 3.5% and improved net interest margin (NIM) at 3.70% in the first nine months of this year.

TMBThanachart Bank (ttb) posted net profit of 13.6 billion baht, up 31.4% year-on-year.

The bank's NIM expanded by 32 basis points to 3.21% in the first nine months of this year from 2.89% year-on-year, attributed to prudent loan growth strategy, robust portfolio optimisation and pre-funding strategy.

Thanyalak Vacharachaisurapol, deputy manager of Kasikorn Research Center (K-Research), said total net profit for the banking industry in the fourth quarter of 2023 is expected to remain steady from the third quarter.

Despite improving NII in line with policy rate hikes, funding costs and personnel expenses would increase as seasonal factors in the final quarter, said the research house.

K-Research expects total loan growth for the industry this year to be two percentage points lower than the previous estimate of around 4% because of the uneven economic recovery and pending government stimulus measures.