Land and Houses Financial Group, the holding company of LH Bank, expects its international lending portfolio to grow by 50% this year, driven by strong foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into Thailand and continued growth in cross-border trade.
Amid heightened geopolitical tensions, FDI and international trade are expected to continue shifting towards Southeast Asia and Thailand, particularly from China.
Against this backdrop, LH Bank set an ambitious target of 50% growth in international loans for 2026 after recording 27% growth in the first half of the year, said Shih Jiing-Fuh, president and chief executive of LH Bank.
In the first half of 2026, the bank's outstanding international loan portfolio expanded to 23 billion baht, up 27% from the end of 2025.
International loans now account for 8% of the bank's total loan portfolio, compared with 6% at the end of last year. The bank aims to increase the share to 10% by 2027.
"The strong growth is expected to be driven primarily by investments in digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence-related industries, in line with investment promotion by the Board of Investment [BoI]," Mr Shih said.
In the first quarter of 2026, BoI's investment promotion applications tallied 623 projects with a combined investment value of 1.02 trillion baht, up 142% year-on-year. The digital sector accounted for 86% of total investment value, reaching 874 billion baht, surging 823% from a year earlier.
In addition to strong growth in its international banking business, LH Bank reported solid overall lending expansion during the first half, with total outstanding loans rising to 364 billion baht, up 9.1% year-to-date.
Growth was broad-based across all business segments, with corporate and conglomerate loans increasing 10%, retail loans 10.3%, and commercial and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) loans 6.6%.
Supported by rising FDI inflows, cross-border trade and export activity, the bank also posted strong growth in fee-based income. Revenue from trade finance increased 148%, while foreign exchange income rose 75% during the first half of the year.
Mr Shih said the bank plans to expand its SME lending business in the second half after recording 6.6% growth in the first six months, compared with banking industry loan growth of only 1.8%.
LH Bank is preparing to launch 14 financial products and programmes tailored to support local SMEs.
The bank is also offering SME loans under the Bank of Thailand's credit support schemes, SME Credit Boost and SME Secured Plus, to enhance liquidity for small businesses.
Under its business strategy, LH Bank expects total loan growth of 10-12% for the year, while maintaining its non-performing loan ratio at no more than 3% by year-end, compared with 2.56% currently, he said.
