KTB Leasing aims to cater more to retail market
KTB Leasing, a subsidiary of Krungthai Bank (KTB), aims to raise the proportion of finance leases to retail customers, as it foresees this market expanding sufficiently to boost its loan growth and interest income.
President Pinyavat Chantrakan-tanond said yesterday that its ratio of retail to corporate clients was currently 50:50, and the company hoped to increase the proportion of retail customers to 55-60 per cent by next year. This is because demand for leases of retail products such as automobiles, motorcycles and home appliances has room to grow.
However, if the company gets major deals from corporate clients, the loan ratio might not change.
KTB Leasing yesterday signed a finance lease of Bt3.45 billion with Asia Aviation, a principal of low-cost airline Thai AirAsia, to purchase three aircraft.
KTB Leasing is the first financial house in Thailand to provide a capital lease to an airline operator.
Thai AirAsia earlier borrowed from international banks, but the company wants to own its aircraft, and the conditions of the finance lease offered by KTB Leasing meant the carrier could face lower risks from currency exchange, said Asia Aviation chief executive officer Tassapon Bijleveld.
“Owning the aircraft will help the company acquire revenue from selling the planes after we have used them for 12 years. Thai AirAsia wants to have new aircraft to service passengers every 12 years,” Tassapon said.
Pinyavat said the coming Asean Economic Community would bring opportunities to KTB Leasing because the main products supported by capital leases were logistics and infrastructure.
“Thailand is a hub of logistics and infrastructure, so aviation is one of our focuses, especially the low-cost airlines. We believe we are on the right path and our income will grow sharply next year,” he said.
Interest income this year is expected to grow to Bt2 billion from Bt1.5 billion. The target for outstanding loans this year has been raised to Bt32 billion from Bt25 billion.
“We booked Bt25 billion already in the first nine months, so a target of Bt32 billion is not difficult for us,” he said.
He added that the company would work strongly to lure retail customers, enabling its outstanding loans next year to rise to Bt50 billion.
