Eleven SET-listed commercial banks combined for a slight net profit during the first three months this year, with most large banks setting aside lower impairment charges.
Their accumulated net profit for the January-to-March quarter amounted to 54.4 billion baht, up 1.4% from a year earlier.
Krungthai Bank (KTB) emerged as the worst-performing bank in the first quarter, delivering a 20.5% fall in its quarterly unreviewed consolidated net profit to 6.79 billion baht, according to a filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
The country's third-largest lender by assets saw its net interest income fall by 7.2% from a year earlier to 20.5 billion baht in the first quarter.
Its lower loan-loss provision and higher net fee and service income failed to offset the decline in net interest income, it said. KTB's higher total expenses also dealt a blow to its bottom line.
The bank recorded net fee and service income of 6.16 billion baht for the three months to March, compared with 5.72 billion over the same period last year.
Its impairment charge dropped to 6.91 billion baht for the first quarter from 7.46 billion a year ago, while its gross non-performing loans (NPLs) climbed to 4.33% of loans outstanding from 4.19% at the end of last year.
Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and retail loans contributed to the higher gross NPL ratio, said KTB. The bank's coverage ratio at the end of last month stood at 120.3%, similar to the end of December.
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) was the second-worst performer, with a 4.6% year-on-year fall in its first-quarter net profit.
SCB, the country's second-largest lender by assets, saw its unreviewed consolidated net profit fall by 4.6% year-on-year to 11.4 billion baht for the period because of a rise in operating expenses for digital banking business.
Its loan-loss provisions amounted to 5.01 billion baht for the first quarter, steady from a year earlier. The bank's NPL ratio improved to 2.77% at the end of March from 2.83% at the end of 2017.
Kasikornbank (KBank) posted a quarterly net profit of 10.8 billion baht, up 5.84% from a year earlier, thanks largely to a 2.63% rise in net interest income and a 32.9% lower allowance for impairment loss on loans.
The bank's net interest income amounted to 23.7 billion baht for the quarter, and its net fee and service income inched up to 10.6 billion baht from 10.1 billion over the same period last year.
KBank set aside 7.82 billion baht for loan-loss impairment for the period, down from 9.13 billion a year earlier. Its gross NPLs stood at 3.3% of total loans, steady from the end of 2017, while the bank's coverage ratio slightly rose to 149.7% from the end of last year.
CIMB Thai Bank (CIMBT) showed the biggest year-on-year increase in net profit for the quarter at 39.3% to 169 million baht.
The bank's net interest income rose to 2.6 billion baht for the first quarter from 2.46 billion year-on-year, while its net fee and service income gained to 475 million baht from 427 million.
CIMBT's loss-loss provisions declined to 1.18 billion baht for the quarter from 1.23 billion a year earlier. However, its gross NPL ratio increased to 5.2% for the quarter from 4.8% at the end of 2017.
