Bangkok Bank's (BBL) first-quarter net profit was a tad higher as net interest income increased and lower loan-loss provisions were offset by the decline in non-interest income.
The bank's unreviewed consolidated net profit inched up 0.3% year-on-year to 9.03 billion baht during the three months through March, BBL said in a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Net interest income rose by 6.9% to 18.3 billion baht due mainly to increases in yields on earning assets and loan volumes.
BBL's net interest margin (NIM) increased by 0.14 percentage points from a year before to 2.48% in the first quarter.
Non-interest income amounted to 10.3 billion baht for the first three months, dipping 28.3% from a year earlier because of the decrease of 2.75 billion in gains on investments and 762 million in net fees and service income. This was mainly the result of the exemption of transaction fees for digital channels from April 2018, as well as lower fees from loan-related services and securities business.
The bank set aside 5.08 billion baht worth of loan-loss provision, down 30.6% year-on-year.
BBL's consolidated non-performing loans (NPLs) rose by 4.4% from the end of 2018 but declined by 9.2% from a year earlier to 83.7 billion baht at the end of March.
NPLs fell from 3.4% of loans outstanding at the end of last year to 3.5%.
TMB Bank's unreviewed consolidated net profit plunged 31% over the same period last year to 1.58 billion baht during the January-to-March quarter largely because of lower non-interest income and higher operating expenses.
The country's seventh largest lender by assets posted non-interest income of 2.28 billion baht for the first three months through March, down 32% from a year earlier.
Net interest income rose 3.4% year-on-year to 6.24 billion, according to the bank's filing to the SET.
A 37.2% year-on-year decline in net fee and service income to 1.72 billion baht was attributed to the sharp fall in non-interest income.
NIM dropped by 13 basis points from a year earlier to 2.89%. TMB is maintaining its NIM target at 2.86%-2.93% this year.
Operating expenses surged by 11.1% from a year earlier to 4.74 billion baht during the first quarter this year.
TMB's cost-to-income ratio stood at 55.4% in the first three months, compared with 52.7% in the previous three months and 45.6% a year ago.
TMB's impairment charge for credit loss declined by 20.2% from a year earlier to 1.84 billion during the January-to-March quarter.
Consolidated NPLs rose to 21.8 billion baht at the end of March from 21.7 billion at the end of 2108, and the gross NPL ratio ticked up to 2.81% from 2.76%.
Coverage ratio stood at 145% at the end of March, compared with 152% at the end of 2018 and 142% a year ago.
The bank targets to maintain its coverage ratio above 140%.
CIMB Thai Bank (CIMBT) delivered a 92.4% year-on-year increase in its unreviewed consolidated net profit to 325 million baht for the first quarter, thanks to a 3.4% growth in operating income and a 17.4% drop in provisions.
NIM stood at 3.31% in the three months through March, down from 3.98% a year earlier, from higher cost of funds.
The bank's gross NPLs amounted to 10 billion, with a stable gross NPL ratio of 4 from the end of last year.
