Bangkok--Jan 20--Bangkok Bank
Highlights for 2005:
Profit before tax grew by 27.8% to Baht 22.5 billion
Non-performing loans dropped from 16.9% to 10.9% of total loans
Full tax payments resumed in Q4 for first time since financial crisis
Bangkok Bank reported a net profit of Baht 20.3 billion in 2005, an increase of Baht 2.7 billion or 15.2% from 2004. Pre-tax earnings rose by Baht 4.9 billion or 27.8% to Baht 22.5 billion. Income tax expenses for 2005 were estimated to be Baht 2.2 billion, marking the first year the Bank had to pay tax since the financial crisis in 1997.
The Bank attributed the improved profit to growth in net interest and dividend income which rose by 22.9% or Baht 7.5 billion to Baht 40.2 billion.
In 2005, loans declined from Baht 932.9 billion to Baht 912.0 billion, mainly due to the repayment of non-performing loans and debt write-offs which outpaced new lending after repayments.
Due to a lag effect from rising interest rates, interest income increased faster than interest expenses. Interest income for 2005 rose by 16.1% to Baht 56.0 billion year-on-year, while interest expenses increased by 1.8% to Baht 15.8 billion for the year. Quarter-on-quarter interest income and interest expenses increased by 12.3% and 13.2%, respectively.
Non-interest income fell by 0.8% to Baht 17.7 billion during the year, mainly due to a Baht 2.2 billion decline in net gain on investments, which more than offset a Baht 1.4 billion, or 11.6%, rise in fee and service income. Non-interest expenses in 2005 rose by 8.1% to Baht 31.1 billion, partly due to increases in personnel expenses.
Non-performing loans fell from Baht 158.7 billion to Baht 100.6 billion which represented 10.9% of total loans. The Bank set aside provisioning of Baht 4.3 billion during the year. As a result loan loss reserve coverage improved from 64.6% to 79.1% of non-performing loans. Total loan loss reserves compared with the minimum required by the Bank of Thailand also improved from 145.1% to 165.5%.
The loan-to-deposit ratio increased from 78.7% at the end of 2004 to 78.9% at the end of 2005, with a decline in deposits of 2.5% from Baht 1.19 trillion to Baht 1.16 trillion.
Including the profit for the year, the total capital adequacy ratio and the Tier 1 capital ratio was approximately 15.0% and 11.5%, respectively at the end of 2005.
Shareholders’ equity rose from Baht 115.0 billion at the end of 2004 to Baht 139.2 billion at the end of 2005. Earnings per share rose from Baht 9.23 to Baht 10.64. End.