Summary: KASIKORNBANK PCL

Strong market position and franchise as the fourth-largest bank in Thailand. Above-average returns and a well-diversified loan book. Government support due to the bank's high systemic importance. Potential pressure on asset quality owing to slow economic recovery and small and midsize enterprise (SME) sector difficulties. The stable outlook on KASIKORNBANK PCL (KBank) reflects our expectation that the bank will maintain its high systemic importance in Thailand. We also expect the bank to sustain its 'bbb-' stand-alone credit profile (SACP) over the next two years by maintaining its strong market position while preventing any significant deterioration in capitalization and asset quality. We could downgrade KBank if we lower its SACP, which could result from a substantial deterioration in asset quality. The

...Potential pressure on asset quality owing to slow economic recovery and small and midsize enterprise (SME) sector difficulties. Outlook: Stable The stable outlook on KASIKORNBANK PCL (KBank) reflects our expectation that the bank will maintain its high systemic importance in Thailand. We also expect the bank to sustain its '###-' stand-alone credit profile (SACP) over the next two years by maintaining its strong market position while preventing any significant deterioration in capitalization and asset quality. We could downgrade KBank if we lower its SACP, which could result from a substantial deterioration in asset quality. The bank's restructured loan ratio increased visibly in the past few quarters, reflecting of the underlying asset-quality challenges the bank is facing in its large SME portfolio amid a slowing Thai economy. The possibility of an upgrade is limited over the next 12-18 months because the rating on KBank is already the same as the foreign currency sovereign credit rating...

Summary