Kiatnakin upbeat

President Tawatchai Sudtikitpisan said yesterday that though performing well in the first half, the bank would have to get more aggressive on loan expansion in the second half because the business outlook has changed dramatically since the beginning of the year.

He said if many influential factors such as oil prices, infla¬tion and interest rates surged in the second half, this would dampen the economy and con¬sumer spending. And that would endanger the bank's target for loan growth.

On the other hand, if oil prices, interest rates and infla¬tion rates stay steady, the bank could achieve the targets.

A preliminary assessment of Kiatnakin's overall performance conducted last week suggested that its loans could expand by 30 per cent.

The bank's assets at endJune were Bt102.6 billion, up 15 per cent from the beginning of the year, while total credit - mainly hirepurchase loans - had surged 17.7 per cent to Bt78.01 billion.

The bank's hirepurchase business alone totalled Bt54.84 billion, up 28 per cent from the beginning of the year. New hire purchases approved in the first half of this year were Bt19.5 bil¬lion.

Its loanstodeposits borrow¬ing ratio was 100.1 per cent, down from 101.9 per cent last year, while its net interest mar¬gin was 4 per cent. Its classified loans after provisioning were 6.8 per cent of total loans, down from 9.17 per cent at the end of 2007.

Group firsthalf net profit fell 1 per cent year on year to Bt764 million, as operating expenses rose by 34 per cent, mainly on personnel and bank branch expansion in line with business growth.

"The bank has opened five more branch locations from the beginning of the year and will open five more branches by yearend," Tawatchai said.

Kiatnakin's board resolved to pay an interim dividend of Bt1 per share.

Thitinan Wattanavekin, head of deposit and marketing, said the bank had prepared for liquidity risks after the Deposit Protection Agency Act is implemented by focusing on differentiated services, especially providing investment consultation to deposit customers who prefer having investment portfolios.

The bank has enlarged its deposit customer base by value and volume. It now has 13,000 accounts, up 62 per cent from the beginning of the year, and expects to reach 15,000 accounts by the yearend.