Bulletin: COVID-19 Resurgence Could Derail KASIKORNBANK's Recovery

SINGAPORE (S&P Global Ratings) April 22, 2021--S&P Global Ratings said today that the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Thailand could derail a recent recovery in KASIKORNBANK PCL's (KBank) key metrics, including profitability and credit costs. We expect KBank's credit costs to remain elevated in 2021 amid high uncertainties related to the pandemic. Credit costs declined to 152 basis points (bps) as of March 31, 2021, on an annualized basis, from 205 bps for 2020, but it was higher than the industry's pre-COVID-19 levels of about 120 bps. The bank's return on assets improved to 1.14% in the first quarter of 2021, compared with 0.85% in 2020. Loans under relief measures also declined to 14% of the total as of March

...April 22, 2021 SINGAPORE (S&P Global Ratings) April 22, 2021--S&P Global Ratings said today that the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Thailand could derail a recent recovery in KASIKORNBANK PCL's (KBank) key metrics, including profitability and credit costs. We expect KBank's credit costs to remain elevated in 2021 amid high uncertainties related to the pandemic. Credit costs declined to 152 basis points (bps) as of March 31, 2021, on an annualized basis, from 205 bps for 2020, but it was higher than the industry's pre-COVID-19 levels of about 120 bps. The bank's return on assets improved to 1.14% in the first quarter of 2021, compared with 0.85% in 2020. Loans under relief measures also declined to 14% of the total as of March 2021, from a peak of about 40% in mid-2020. And a high proportion (94%) of loans that have exited relief are able to service their obligations. In our view, an economic recovery in Thailand is likely to be delayed due to only a gradual rebound in consumption and tourism....

Bulletin