KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 ― CIMB Group Holdings Bhd’s indirectly held subsidiary, CIMB Thai Bank PCL, recorded a consolidated net profit of 1.06 billion baht (RM134,481,699), an increase of 719.7 million baht or 210.9 per cent year-on-year in the first three months ended March 31, 2022 compared to the same period a year ago.

CIMB Group holds a 94.83 per cent in CIMB Thai Bank.

CIMB Thai Bank president and chief executive officer Paul Wong Chee Kin said the improvement was mainly attributed to better cost control with a 14.0 per cent decline in operating expenses and a 64.0 per cent decrease in expected credit losses, despite a marginal drop of 0.8 per cent in operating income.

"As at March 31, 2022, total gross loans (inclusive of loans guaranteed by other banks and loans to financial institutions) stood at 215.0 billion baht, an increase of 1.5 per cent from December 31, 2021,” he said in a statement today.

Deposits (inclusive of bills of exchange, debentures and selected structured deposit products) stood at 252.5 billion baht, up 5.4 per cent from 239.5 billion baht as of end-December 2021.

Gross non-performing loans (NPL) amounted to 8.4 billion baht, with a higher gross NPL ratio of 3.8 per cent from 3.7 per cent as at Dec 31, 2021 due to the sale of NPLs in 2021.

"CIMB Thai continues to exercise high credit risk underwriting standards and risk management policies. The Bank will also continue to focus on improving productivity, monitoring collection and managing all accounts closely and effectively,” Wong said.

CIMB Thai Group’s loan loss coverage ratio stood at 112.0 per cent as at March 31, 2022 compared with 117.5 per cent as of end-December 2021.

"The bank is pleased to have made considerable progress on its overall performance despite the uncertain recovery surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, driven by CIMB Thai cost discipline and improved asset quality,” he added. ― Bernama