The recent announcement by state-owned Krung Thai Bank Public Co. Ltd. (Krung Thai; 'BBpi') that it is likely to launch a public share offering in November will not have an immediate impact on the bank's rating. Standard&Poor's requires more specific details of the share issue, including the size--which could be up to Thai baht 40 billion (US$930 million)--and the successful execution of such an exercise before being able to assess the impact on the bank's profile. Nevertheless, Standard&Poor's views Krung Thai's proposed equity raising as a positive development, as it would be for most banks in Thailand given the continuing need for banks there to shore up their capitalization against still-high levels of nonperforming assets.
