BBL's net profit drops 11%

BBL's net profit drops 11%

Bangkok Bank (BBL), the country's biggest lender by assets, posted a 11% year-on-year decline in its unreviewed consolidated net profit for the third quarter as the bank set aside higher loan-loss provisions and non-interest income fell.

The bank reported a net profit of 8.06 billion baht in the July-to-September quarter, down from 9.06 billion in the year-earlier period, BBL said in a filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

Even though the bank's net interest income surged 11.3% on the same period last year to 16.07 billion baht during the three months to September, it failed to offset the impact of an increase in impairment charges and lower non-interest income.

Non-interest income amounted to 10.89 billion baht, down 11.5% year-on-year.

BBL during July to September set aside 4.95 billion baht in loan-loss provisions, up 1.5% from the same period last year and 39.6% from the previous quarter, it said.

Operating expenses, which jumped by 10.5% over the same period last year, also took a toll on the bank's third-quarter bottom line.

Gross non-performing loans (NPLs) amounted to 73.19 billion baht, up 30.2% from the end of December and 7.6% from the end of June.

In terms of ratio, NPLs rose to 3.4% at the end of September from 3.1% at the end of June and 2.8% at the end of last year.

The bank's loan-loss reserves to NPLs ratio at the end of September stood at 159.5%, declining from 164.5% at the end of June and 185.3% at the end of December.

The ratio of loan-loss reserves to minimum required provision fell to 201.3% at the end of September from 206.2% at the end of June and 213.5% at the end of 2015.

Loans outstanding edged up 1.8% from the end of December to 1.09 trillion baht at the end of September.

For the first nine months, the bank's consolidated net profit amounted to 23.55 billion baht, down 11.1% over the same period last year.

Its impairment cost for the January-to-September period shot up 12.6% in the corresponding period a year ago to 12.13 billion baht.

Non-interest income for the first nine months fell 10.6% year-on-year to 30.8 billion baht, while net interest income rose 13.8% to 47.7 billion.

BBL shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 162 baht, up 4.50 baht, in trade worth 1.42 billion baht.

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