KASIKORN Leasing, an instalment-loan subsidiary of Kasikornbank, will focus more on segments with good potential such as auto-refinance and fleet-vehicle purchase this year as |a way of achieving portfolio growth, its executive chairman Thawee Teerasoontornwong said yesterday.
The company last year witnessed a drop of 1.24 per cent in its outstanding portfolio, even though new loans booked in the period grew by 19.13 per cent to Bt72.7 billion.
This was because the large debt repayment of customers over the past few years had been higher than the amount of new loans, he said.
As a result, outstanding loans fell to Bt88.67 billion last year, from Bt89.78 billion in 2014.
According to Toyota Thailand and Kasikorn Research Centre, domestic car sales this year are expected to reach 720,000 units, down from 790,000 in 2015.
Therefore, the chance to secure loans from the purchase of new passenger vehicles might not the right way to return to positive portfolio growth, Thawee said.
Based on the forecast of 720,000 car sales, KLeasing's new loans are targeted to come in at Bt73.74 billion this year, which would represent slight growth of 1.4 per cent from last year's level, he said.
"In terms of value, passenger cars are [foremost] in the eye of all lenders, but if we want to grow in this segment, it means we have to wrest market share from rivals, which is not easy. Therefore, the company must expand its loan portfolio from other products," he explained.
"Refinance and fleet cars are two growth areas for us. The government spending on infrastructure projects this year is an opportunity for fleet vehicles, therefore we will be active in this segment to offset the slowdown in passenger cars," he said.
Sales of trucks and other commercial vehicles last year expanded by 14 per cent, while overall car sales dropped by 9 per cent, hence the truck segment is another opportunity for lenders, he added.
The company aims to drive its loan portfolio from fleet vehicles this year to Bt20 billion from Bt19 billion last year, while the portfolio from auto-refinance is projected to reach Bt10 billion from Bt9 billion in 2015, said Surat Leelataviwat, managing director of KLeasing.
The high level of household debt, severe drought and the new excise-duty regime are all negative factors putting pressure on domestic car sales, he said.
Surat said the company had in recent years attempted to adjust its portfolio to commercial clients, in order to keep up the momentum of loan growth and lower non-performing loans (NPLs) after the end of the previous elected government's first-car tax-break programme.
The company's loan ratio between commercial vehicles and retail vehicles at the end of last year was 36:64, compared with 23:77 in 2011, he said, adding that the current proportion was "reasonable" for KLeasing.
The company believes NPLs this year will still be on an upward trend because domestic economic conditions are not particularly positive, but it is determined to control its NPLs at no more than 1.91 per cent - compared with 1.5 per cent last year - the managing director said.