Bangkok Bank pushing for FY15 loan growth of up to 5%

CLMV cross-border trading outlook's also bullish.

Bangkok Bank has noted that it for FY15, its loan growth target is three to five percent, based on three to fourth percent of GDP growth driven by SMEs, housing and overseas lending.

According to a research note from Maybank Kim Eng, meanwhile, the bank also has bullish outlook on cross-border trading in CLMV countries.

However, it remains cautious on the slow government spending and weak consumption in provincial areas.

Here's more from Maybank Kim Eng:

We attended the analyst meeting with top management yesterday. Overall the bank’s financial targets are quite conservative in our view. BBL targets 3-5% loan growth (vs our forecast of 6%) with 2.3- 2.4% NIM this year.

LDR should stay below 90% while fee income and OPEX are expected to grow 6-8%. The bank also targets THB8.5-9.0b (or 45-50bps) provision expenses with stable NPL ratio of 2.1%.

The bank expects no policy rate cut this year. Cross-border trading to support overseas loan demand. The bank
plans to grow international loans by 6-8% this year supported by overseas investments from large Thai corporates, especially in the economic zones and border trade with CLMV countries.

Invest in digital banking to improve efficiency. BBL will invest more in digital banking to increase online transactions volume via internet and mobile banking, and self-service channels to free up employee time for cross-selling products at the physical branches.