Thailand's Tisco Financial Group Pcl said on Monday quarterly net profit rose 5.2 percent from a year ago due to higher net interest income and cost control, but lending fell 2.1 percent, hit by a sluggish economy and weak market for cars.
Tisco group, which owns Tisco Bank, one of Thailand's top five providers of car loans, posted a net profit of 1.26 billion baht ($360 million) for January-March period, it said in a statement. Non performing loans (NPLs) stood at 3.07 percent of total lending at the end of March, down from 3.23 percent at the end of December, due to improvement in asset quality in the hire purchase and business clients, the company said.
Hire purchase or car loans account for 70 percent of Tisco Bank's portfolio. Hit by high household debt, the country's domestic auto sector is likely to remain weak following a contraction in sales in the past three years, Tisco said.
Earlier, Kiatnakin Bank, a leading car loan provider, reported a 67 percent surge in first quarter net profit of 1.11 billion baht, helped by income from securities and capital businesses, but lending fell 1.2 percent in the quarter. Kiatnakin said it expected Thailand's auto sales to fall more than 5 percent to below 760,000 this year due to weak economy.