Thailand's Bank of Ayudhya released its first financial statement since completing its acquisition of Cambodian microlender Hattha Kaksekar Ltd (HKL) last month, showing a quarterly net profit increase of 10.6 percent from a year earlier.
While Bank of Ayudhya, Thailand’s fifth-largest commercial lender, did not fully include the acquisition of HKL in its revenue calculations, it noted in Friday’s filing that the purchase of a 100 percent share in the Cambodian microfinance institution (MFI) would likely boost its performance for the rest of the year.
Bank of Ayudhya, also known as Krungsri Bank, acquired HKL in September for upwards of $140 million, though the final price of the acquisition has not yet been made public.
Noriaki Goto, the bank’s president and CEO, said in a statement that the finalised acquisition of HKL was “another key milestone” for the Thai bank as it expands its operations throughout ASEAN.
“With the successful acquisition of HKL, a meaningful regional traction is being realised. Krungsri now has a local presence in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar,” he said. “Krungsri revises loan growth target upward from 5 to 6 percent to 8 to 9 percent including consolidated loans from HKL,” he said.
For the first nine months of the year, Bank of Ayudhya’s loan portfolio grew by 7.7 percent, of which HKL’s acquisition in the final month of the reporting period accounted for 1.1 percent. The bank attributed the majority of its growth to the expansion of auto, mortgage, credit card and personal loan products.
Third-quarter profits were recorded at nearly $122 million, while non-performing loans fell to 2.1 percent of total loans. Bank of Ayudhya, itself part of the Japanese-based Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, holds over $50 billion in assets.
HKL is Cambodia’s fourth-largest microfinance institution, with 150 branches and $446 million in assets, according to its 2015 annual report. The lender had a $363.5 million loan portfolio, with $236.4 million in deposits last year, and posted 37 percent annual net profit growth.
