KASIKORNBANK PCL

Strong market position and franchise as the fourth-largest bank in Thailand. Above-average earnings and a well-diversified loan book. Government support due to the bank's high systemic importance. Pressure on asset quality owing to difficulties in the small and midsize enterprise (SME) sector as a result of slowing economic growth. The stable outlook on KASIKORNBANK PCL (KBank) reflects our expectation that asset quality issues will start stabilizing over the next 12-18 months. We also expect the bank to maintain its high systemic importance in Thailand. We could downgrade KBank in the next 12-18 months if we lower its stand-alone credit profile (SACP), which could result if the weakening trend in bank asset quality does not reverse. The bank's restructured loan ratio

...Pressure on asset quality owing to difficulties in the small and midsize enterprise (SME) sector as a result of slowing economic growth. Outlook: Stable The stable outlook on KASIKORNBANK PCL (KBank) reflects our expectation that asset quality issues will start stabilizing over the next 12-18 months. We also expect the bank to maintain its high systemic importance in Thailand. We could downgrade KBank in the next 12-18 months if we lower its stand-alone credit profile (SACP), which could result if the weakening trend in bank asset quality does not reverse. The bank's restructured loan ratio has notably increased over the past couple of years, reflecting the underlying asset-quality challenges the bank is facing in its large SME portfolio. The possibility of an upgrade is limited over the next 12-18 months....

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