Krung Thai Q4 profit rises beyond expectation

9.5 percent increase is eyed to get rosier this year due to stimulus package.

Krung Thai Bank posted a 9.2 percent increase in fourth-quarter net profit, helped by lower provisions, and said a rise in lending would boost interest income according to a report in Reuters.

The outlook for Krung Thai Bank is apparently becoming better this year since it is normally the biggest provider of government loans and should therefore benefit from spending related to stimulus packages plus demand from state enterprises.

Its quarterly net profit was 2.54 billion baht ($77 million), above the forecast of 2.43 billion baht ($73.63 million) from eight analysts polled by Reuters and compared with 2.33 billion baht ($70.64 million) a year earlier.

Full-year 2009 net earnings fell to 12 billion baht ($363.8 million) from 12.27 billion baht ($372.12 million) in 2008, but it was above an average forecast of 11.1 billion baht ($336.66 million) from 18 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.