20 January 2025
Bangkok (20 January 2025) –
Krungsri (Bank of Ayudhya PCL and its business units) posts its net profit of 29.70 billion baht for 2024, decreasing 9.8% over-year, mainly driven by an increase in expected credit loss, accentuating Krungsri’s rigorous and prudent risk management approach amid the macroeconomic challenges.
Against the backdrop of continued, yet limited and uneven, economic recovery, constrained by structural impediments and high household indebtedness which limited overall credit growth and earnings potential, Krungsri’s overriding sustainability imperative remained intact. Top priorities continued to be actively supporting the Bank’s retail and SME customers through both immediate assistance measures and the introduction of innovative “Krungsri SME Transition Loan” to sustain both their commercial and financial viability along with environmental sustainability.
Highlights of Krungsri’s consolidated 2024 performance:
- Net profit: Recorded at 29,700 million baht for 2024, representing a decrease of 9.8%, or 3,229 million baht from 2023, mainly driven by an increase in expected credit loss, highlighting Krungsri’s rigorous and prudent risk management approach.
- Loans: Decreased by 6.0%, or 121,335 million baht, from the end of December 2023, resonating the weighted down business and consumer sentiments, combined with the Bank’s responsible lending stance.
- Deposits: Decreased by 0.9%, or 17,372 million baht, from the end of December 2023, corresponding to the liquidity management optimization policy.
- Net interest margin (NIM), notwithstanding the overall subdued loan demand, increased to 4.28% from 3.91% in the prior year, mainly driven by an improvement in the yield on earning assets, largely resulting from the full-year recognition of overseas consumer finance business acquired in 2023.
- Non-interest income: Increased by 14.7%, or 5,827 million baht, from 2023, largely due to net fees and service income from overseas and domestic businesses, gains on financial instruments measured at fair value through profit or loss (FVTPL), and bad debt recoveries.
- Cost to income ratio: Slightly improved to 44.4%, compared with 44.5% in 2023.
- Non-performing loan (NPL) ratio: Registered 3.23%, compared with 2.53% at the end of December 2023. Meanwhile, the credit cost amounted to 245 basis points. The coverage ratio was recorded at 123.2%.
- Capital adequacy ratio (Bank only): Recorded at 19.38%, compared with 18.24% at the end of December 2023.
Krungsri President and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Kenichi Yamato, said “As a responsible financial service provider, in light of muted credit growth potential, Krungsri accelerated both our advisory services and innovative ESG product introduction, such as Sustainable Deposit and Social Loan, as well as actively grew and underwrote ESG debentures, thus uplifting the customers’ solid and credible progresses on their decarbonization journeys. On the advisory front, we were the 2024 market leader on the ESG debenture league table, with a notable market share of 18.9%.”
Commenting on the economic outlook, Mr. Yamato cited that “Thailand's economic outlook for 2025 is expected to grow at 2.9%, compared to an estimated 2.7% in 2024, mainly driven by a continued recovery in the tourism sector, normalized public spending particularly in the first half of 2025, and moderate growth of investment. Nevertheless, key risks that could weigh down the outlook include the impact of trade protectionism, particularly from potential shifts in US trade policy coupled with geopolitical risks, as well as structural challenges, and high household indebtedness.”
As of 31 December 2024, Krungsri, Thailand’s fifth largest bank in terms of assets, loans and deposits, and one of Thailand’s Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), reported 1.90 trillion baht in loans, 1.82 trillion baht in deposits, and 2.62 trillion baht in total assets. Krungsri’s capital (Bank only) was strong at 317.63 billion baht, equivalent to 19.38% of risk-weighted assets, with 15.11% in common equity tier 1 capital.