(Thailand) – Thailand’s biggest state bank Krung Thai Bank Plc, which is looking to partially privatise at year end, has confirmed it expects a return to solid profits ahead of the event.The Bank is expecting a net profit of over 1.2 billion baht (US$27.4 million) in the first quarter of this year and a net profit of at least two billion baht per quarter from April onwards.
This compares to a net loss of 4.44 billion baht last year and a net profit in 2000 only constructed through a big write-down of unused bad debt provisions.
Krung Thai is hoping to raise about 40 billion baht from the share sale in the fourth quarter, reducing current Government ownership of 94 percent to 49 percent, preferably through a public share sale but potentially to a strategic partner.
Reportedly, the Bank has no need of additional provisioning for bad debts this year, with around 8 percent of current loans non-performing, a huge reduction from the 60 percent in 1999.