Thai banks post Bt173-B net profit in 2012

Thai commercial banks increased their combined net income by 21 percent to Bt173 billion in 2012.

This is attributed to higher interest income, fee income and a lower corporate tax rate.

The banks witnessed a sharp increase in loan demand early in the year due to post-flood renovation. This allowed them to grow their loans by 13.7 per cent throughout the year.

However, corporate loans expanded only 10.6 per cent on year, as exporters suffered from weak global demand and the issuance of more corporate bonds. Corporate loans at the end of the year accounted for 69.8 percent of outstanding loans.

The combined non-performing loans stood at Bt254.2 billion, or Bt11.9 billion down from the previous year. Gross NPL and net NPL slowed to 2.3 per cent and 1.1 per cent of outstanding loans, respectively.

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