Krung Thai Bank profit up 17.4% to $167mln

Government infrastructure projects helped boost the lender’s profitability, which is $23.43mln above forecast.

Krung Thai Bank (KTB) reported a 17.4 percent rise in quarterly net profit on Wednesday, higher than expected, helped by higher net margins after rate rises plus strong growth in lending to the government.

Thailand's second-largest bank by assets said net profit for the July-September quarter was 4.99 billion baht ($167 million), up from 4.25 billion baht ($142.23 million) a year earlier and above the forecast of 4.29 billion baht ($143.57 million) from 11 analysts polled by Reuters.

The outlook for Krung Thai is positive in the last quarter and next year as it has been a key beneficiary of government infrastructure projects, while fee income has improved.

The bank has forecast loan growth of more than 10 percent this year.

View the full story in Reuters.