KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 21): CIMB Thai Bank PCL, in which CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (KL:CIMB) owns a 94.83% stake, saw its net profit surged 77.7% to 2.85 billion baht (RM374.5 million) for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2024 (FY2024), up from 1.61 billion baht a year earlier, thanks to higher operating income and lower expected credit losses.

In FY2024, the bank’s consolidated operating income increased 9.7% to 15.1 billion baht from 13.77 billion baht, attributed to strong performance in its other operating income, which grew 49.4% as well as net fees and service income, which increased by 19.9%.

The non-operating income is attributed to higher net gains on financial instruments measured at fair value through profit or loss, bad debt recovery and gains on investment, CIMB Thai said in a bourse filing statement on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the bank recorded lower net interest income, which fell 3% to 9.47 billion baht from 9.77 billion baht, due to pressure from interest expense. In FY2024, interest expense grew 31.3%, exceeding its interest income, which grew 11.3%.

Its net interest margin over earning assets stood at 2.2% in 2024, compared to 2.6% in 2023, arising from higher cost of funds.

The bank’s expected credit losses fell 13.7% to 2.69 billion baht in FY2024 compared with 3.11 billion baht in FY2023.