KTC has reported to the Stock Exchange of Thailand that its gross NPLs were down to 1.86 per cent at the end of September, from 2.19 per cent a year earlier, while its credit-card NPLs stood at 1.37 per cent, down from 1.42 per cent.
The company’s NPLs for personal loans were unchanged, at 1.01 per cent.
The Bank of Thailand on Thursday announced that NPLs in the credit-card industry had surged to 5.1 per cent, the highest level in 10 years.
However, the central bank said this was not a critical concern because the sector accounted for credit of Bt200.19 billion, just 1.7 per cent of Bt11.7 trillion-worth of lending in the banking system.
Rathian Srimongkol, president and chief executive officer of KTC, said the company would maintain its NPLs for 2017 at the same level as this year’s, even though it aims to grow by at least 15 per cent in credit-card spending and achieve portfolio growth of around 10 per cent.
KTC remains capable of generating income and profit from increases in card spending and portfolio in both its key businesses – credit cards and personal loans – he said.
Its credit-card approval standards are consistent with target groups, as well as constantly fluctuating circumstances, he said, adding that collection measures are also efficient, making its NPLs the lowest in the sector.
In the first nine months of the year, KTC achieved credit-card spending growth of 14 per cent, well above than the industry rate of 7.2 per cent.
Net profit came in at Bt1.854 billion, some 21 per cent per cent higher than the Bt1.53 billion made in the same period last year.
KTC’s credit-card and personal-loan businesses both contributed to earnings growth, as did effective collection and the ability to drive the company’s funding cost lower, Rathian said.
By the end of September, KTC had a total of around 2.8 million accounts – an increase of 12 per cent, year on year.
This consisted of 2.039 million credit-card accounts, representing 13-per-cent growth, and 793,486 personal-loan accounts, for 8-per-cent growth.
KTC had total receivables of Bt62.18 billion as of September 30, comprising Bt41.325 billion credit-card receivables and Bt20.29 billion personal-loan receivables.
The company’s president said he expected the national e-Payment project to boost e-commerce and consumer-finance business.
To support sustainable growth, KTC aims to be the most preferred brand in both card business and non-collateral personal-loan business by the end of 2018, he added.
It also plans to penetrate all related business areas – merchant acquisition, distribution and online businesses – on top of its core credit-card and personal-loan operations.
Rathian said the company would employ three major principles in achieving its sustainability goals: firstly, developing human-resource potential, cultivating ownership and promoting proactive processes; and secondly, adopting a customer-centric approach to work procedures.
Thirdly, it will utilise cutting-edge information technologies to support new businesses and deliver effectively to customer demands, as well as cultivate long-term relationships with customers while maintaining portfolio quality at a favourable level.