zero% corporate loan growth at TMB expected

The bank forecasts that customers will repay debt of Bt30 billion. Therefore it has to lend at least Bt60-billion this year to cover the reduction of Bt30 billion. In addition, new lending will not be all withdrawn. In the first three months of the year, new lending that had not been used was about Bt5 billion to Bt8 billion.

Currently TMB Bank has 2,000 wholesale customers, but it has only 60 relationship managers, who took care of these customers. A relationship manager has to take care of 30 customers, which is too many.

So the bank must recruit more relationship managers in order to maintain the ratio at one relationship manager to 20 customers. The bank also aims to increase these customers by 20 per cent by the end of the year. If there are 2,400 wholesale customers the bank should have 120 relationship managers by the end of the year.

In addition, the bank hopes to double its tradingloan volume.

Piti added that the bank would like to increase the volume of loans for imports and exports from the current Bt200 billion300 billion, representing a market share of 1 to 2 per cent, a very small portion compared to the total lending market share of TMB at 7 per cent. Other big banks have import and export loan volumes of around Bt2 trillion each. So TMB Bank is focussed on increasing the volume of trading loans to Bt400 billiontoBt600 billion this year and to Bt1 trillion in three years.

Currently TMB Bank has classified its wholesale customers into 12 industries. Some industries, such as steel and automobiles, have debt payment problems.

Yesterday TMB Bank CEO Boontuck Wungcharoen said the bank plans to become a "world standard Thai bank" after the new executive team has been completely formed.

Boontuck spoke after introducing the new executives and said that the bank would grow with a strategy he called "customercentric". He said every service had to be developed "to meet the customers' needs."

The bank aims to gain deposit market share of 14 per cent in three years, up from the current market share of 7 seven per cent.

The strategy will boost income from the retail banking business to 40 per cent of total income, while feebased income is expected to increase to 35 per cent of total income in the next three years as well.

"Currently the executive team, which consists of capable people, is ready and we will make our vision come true. The most important thing is we share the same vision and share the same passion, although we are from different countries. But we speak the same language as we all aim to build TMB Bank to become a world standard Thai bank," Boontuck said.