Krung Thai Bank Crafts Plan to Join Regional Banking Powers
January 29, 2016 — 5:00 AM ICTUpdated on January 29, 2016 — 12:04 PM ICT
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
• KTB aims to increase profitability and boost size through M&A
• Chief Vorapak says lender `needs to be strong enough to act'
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Krung Thai Bank Pcl, Thailand’s second-largest lender by assets, is cleaning up its balance sheet and preparing to make acquisitions in a bid to join the ranks of the biggest Southeast Asian banks.
After making large provisions last year for Thailand’s largest default since the 1997 Asian economic crisis, Bangkok-based KTB is boosting profits and positioning itself to buy another Thai bank, according to Chief Executive Officer Vorapak Tanyawong.
That purchase should give KTB the scale to pursue a merger with one of the region’s biggest lenders, he said.
“First step, KTB needs to be strong enough to act,” Vorapak, the former Thailand country head at New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co., said in an interview this week in Bangkok. “For Thai banks including KTB, it would be too slow to expand overseas by opening branches. We have to seriously focus on regional acquisition. The problem is Thai banks are too small.”
He declined to elaborate on targets or the timing for any acquisitions.