Bangkok--23 Jul--Bangkok Bank
Bangkok Bank has reported a consolidated net profit for the first half of 2013 of Baht 19.27 billion, an increase of Baht 2.24 billion or 13.1 percent from the same period in 2012. Net interest income rose by Baht 657 million. Non-interest income rose by Baht 3.18 billion and operating expenses decreased by Baht 299 million.
Bangkok Bank President Chartsiri Sophonpanich said: "The Bank has delivered satisfactory first half results. Lending is continuing to grow, driven mainly by the corporate and SME sectors, which are investing to increase their production capacity or to expand their business."
At the end of June 2013, total lending was Baht 1,666.43 billion, an increase of Baht 62.04 billion or 3.9 percent from the end of 2012, and an increase of Baht 124.91 billion or 8.1 percent from the end of June 2012, covering every customer segment - Corporate, SME and Consumer.
In terms of asset quality, at the end of June 2013 non-performing loans (NPLs) were Baht 44.52 billion, while the ratio of non-performing loans to total loans was 2.4 percent.
The Bank maintained its focus on prudent management and consistent provisioning for reserves. Provisions on loans and debt securities for the first half of 2013 were Baht 5.12 billion. The Bank set aside provisioning expenses of Baht 3.38 billion in the second quarter, taking the loan loss reserve coverage of NPLs to 206.1 percent and the ratio of loan loss reserves to total loans to 5.5 percent.
In terms of liquidity, at the end of June 2013 deposits were Baht 1,872.70 billion, an increase of Baht 39.59 billion from the end of March 2013, while the loan-to-deposit ratio stood at 89.0 percent.
The net interest margin declined from 2.49 percent in the second half of 2012 to 2.41 percent in the first six months of 2013. The decrease partly resulted from lower rates of return from lending, and lower rates of return from interbank and money market items.
Net fees and service income for the first half of 2013 was Baht 10.91 billion, an increase of Baht 1.53 billion or 16.3 percent from the first six months of 2012, due mainly to healthy growth in fees and service income from mutual funds and bancassurance.
For the first six months of this year, gains on investments were Baht 1.99 billion, an increase of Baht 1.28 billion from the same period of 2012.
Operating expenses were Baht 17.71 billion, a decrease of Baht 299 million or 1.7 percent from the same period in 2012. Personnel expenses rose by Baht 1.04 billion or 11.0 percent, due to an increase in the number of employees and annual salary adjustments. In the second quarter this year, the Bank recognized reversal of estimated loss on the impaired assets transferred to Thai Asset Management Corporation (TAMC). The cost-to-income ratio in the first half of 2013 reduced to 37.8 percent, compared with 41.9 percent for the first half of 2012.
On January 1, 2013 the Bank adopted the Bank of Thailand's Basel III capital adequacy regulations. At the end of June 2013 the Bank's capital adequacy ratio, Tier 1 capital ratio and Common Equity Tier 1 ratio, as defined by the Bank of Thailand, stood at approximately 16.4 percent, 13.9 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively.
Shareholders' equity at the end of June 2013 was Baht 283.09 billion, equivalent to 11.4 percent of total assets. Book value per share was Baht 148.30, an increase of Baht 5.80 from the end of 2012.