BANGKOK: Bank of Ayudhya Pcl, Thailand's fifth-largest lender, said its quarterly net profit beat expectations with a rise of 21 percent, thanks to a pickup in lending and strong demand for corporates, mortgage and auto hire purchase loans.
Bank of Ayudhya, controlled by Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), posted April-June net profit of 5.3 billion baht ($151.30 million), above an average forecast of 5.06 billion baht by three analysts polled by Reuters.
The bank maintained its loan growth target of 5 percent to 6 percent for 2016 on expectation Thailand's economic recovery would continue in the second half, president and CEO Noriaki Goto said in a statement.
The economy grew 3.2 percent in January-March, its fastest pace in three years, and Goto said it would be supported by booming tourism, the acceleration in government spending, low oil prices and continued recovery in the agriculture sector.
The bank said loans grew 4.2 percent in the first six months of 2016, with retail loans rising 5.5 percent, large corporate and small-to-medium-sized companies up 3.5 percent and 2.5 percent respectively.
Commercial lending accounted for 54 percent of the portfolio, with the remaining 43 percent in the retail sector, it said.
Non-performing loans dropped to a post-Asian financial crisis low at 2.20 percent of total loans at end-June.
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