Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) posts a net profit of 21.4 billion baht for last year’s operations, up 23.4 percent from 2007.

Dr. Vichit Suraphongchai, chairman of SCB’s executive committee, yesterday said in a statement that the multi-year drive to successfully transform the bank has just passed through its first major test in flying colors as core profitability has in particular been sustained despite the dramatic economic slowdown in Thailand and the world.

The country’s third largest bank saw its net interest income (NII) increase 13.2 percent from 2007 while non-NII, such as fees and services income, up 12.4 percent over the same period 2007, in addition to its success in expense control which brought down its cost-to-income ratio to 49.4 percent from 53.0 percent in 2007, he said.

At the end of last year, the bank also saw its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stand at a record high of 16.30 percent, from 13.1 percent at the end of 2007, Tier I capital at 11.86 percent, much above the statutory minimum of 4.25 percent, and the net interest margin (NIM) improved by about 13 basis points to 3.93 percent while the non-performing loans (NPLs) dropped to 5.1 percent of loans, from 6.1 percent in the previous year.

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