18 Feb, 2010
(Bernama)
BANGKOK-- Newly appointed CIMB Thai Chairman, Chakramon Phasukvanich, has set three priorities towards laying a stronger foundation for the bank and achieving a better result this year.
He said the priorities are to reduce Non-Performing Loans (NPLs), find a niche market for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) customers and expand the bank's operation into Indo-China.
"We hope to lower our NPLs to that below the Thailand banking industry average, as currently we are among the highest," he told BERNAMA here Wednesday night.
He however refused to provide details of the NPLs.
But according to records, the bank plans to lower net NPLs to less than five per cent of its loan portfolio for this year, from the 5.45 billion baht or 5.79 per cent currently, compared with the industry average of three per cent.
The bank's gross NPLs are 9.13 billion baht or 9.62 per cent of its portfolio, higher than the sector average of 6.3 per cent.
CIMB Thai, formerly known as BankThai, became a part of the CIMB Group in November 2008, when the latter acquired 93.15 per cent of its shares.
As at June 30, 2009, CIMB Thai's total assets and shareholders' funds were at 134 billion baht and 7.1 billion baht respectively.
CIMB Thai has 147 branches in Thailand, offering a wide range of financial solutions to both retail and corporate customers.
"CIMB Thai is in discussion with CIMB Group over the NPLs and we hope to clear the issue within this year," said Chakramon, who was appointed to the top post on Jan 1 this year.
It has been reported that CIMB Thai plans to sell off its stake in Sathorn Asset Management to the bank's parent company. At present, CIMB Thai hold a 100 per cent stake in the asset management firm with three billion bahts worth of NPLs under it.
On his second priority to find a niche market for the SMEs customers, Chakramon, who was the former Chairman of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand, just smiled when asked to elaborate on the matter.
"We will announce the details later," he said.
A member of the Economic Advisory Team to the Prime Minister's Office, he said the bank planned to expand into Indo-China, starting with Vietnam.
"BankThai, established in 1998, used to have branches in Vietnam and Cambodia. But this time, we must plan carefully and not repeat the same mistakes," he said, without elaborating.
Chakramon, who has a Masters in Economics from the California State University, said CIMB Thai was currently preparing a five-year corporate planning in line with the CIMB Group's aspirations and directions.
Again, he refused to go into details, stating, it would be announced later.
"The three priorities will lay a stronger foundation for CIMB Thai and coupled with the dual listing, the bank is projected to make a better profit by end of this year," he highlighted.
It was reported CIMB Group plans an initial public offering (IPO) of up to 35 million of its shares for its dual listing plan on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
The listing is expected to be completed in the first half of this year, subject to the approval of CIMB Group shareholders and the regulatory authorities in Thailand and Malaysia.
Based on the CIMB Group market capitalisation of US$13.7 billion as at Nov 13 last year, the company would be among the three largest companies on SET and the largest financial group.
CIMB Thai reported a net profit of 1.66 million baht for 2009 and will remain listed on the SET following the dual listing.
-- BERNAMA
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