SCB's quarterly earnings up 24%

Siam Commercial Bank's quarterly net profit increased 24 percent to Bt10.07 billion from Bt8.13 billion in the same period last year.

The bank attributed the increase to higher net interest income on the back of robust loan growth, strong insurance premium income and higher net fee and service income.

Non-performing loans are also at a new post-1997 low.

In the quarter, SCB saw its net interest income increase by 20.9 per cent to Bt15 billion, an all-time high for the bank. Loan growth in the quarter rose 20.2 per cent on year. Finally, the net interest margin at 3.22 percentage points was better than expected and much higher than the preceding quarter.

Meanwhile, its non-interest income rose 19.4 per cent on year, due partly to 42.2 per cent increase in insurance premium income.

At the end of June, NPLs stood at 2.25 per cent of outstanding loans.

""The record results demonstrated the soundness of our business strategies, the effectiveness of our business model and superior execution capability. Underscoring these strengths is the overarching drive across the SCB group to engender deeper customer intimacy and strong employee engagement that provides sustainability to these record results and further enhances shareholder value," said SCB President Kannikar Chalitaporn.

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