BANGKOK: Earnings may grow 15% after two consecutive years of slump. Thailand was the first country to enter into a downturn in 2013 and is likely to be the first one out of the door on credit costs next year, said Credit Suisse. The research firm projects earnings of Thai banks to rebound to 15% next year after falling 13% in 2015 and 1% in 2016E.
“The macro backdrop has improved somewhat with nominal GDP at 5.0% YoY in 2Q (vs 3.1% in the past three years) and real rates starting to drop (inflation was negative from Jan-2015 to Mar-2016 but has risen in the past two months to +0.4%),” it said. Credit Suisse added that while loan demand is anaemic, asset quality stress should not be deteriorating.
