Thai Siam Commercial Bank Q3 profit up, meets forecast
BANGKOK, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Siam Commercial Bank SCB.BK (SCB), Thailand's third-largest lender, reported a 7.7 percent rise in quarterly net profit on Tuesday, in line with forecasts, helped by an absence of investment losses, although lending shrank.
SCB said it made a net profit of 5.2 billion baht ($156 million) in the July-September period, up from 4.83 billion baht a year earlier, and matching the 5.23 billion baht forecast by 15 analysts polled by Reuters.
Ahead of the results, its full-year net profit was expected to show a 13 percent rise to 20.8 billion baht, according to 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The bank has said an economic recovery in the second half of this year could push 2009 loan growth towards the top end of its 3-5 percent target. [ID:nBKK483124]
Shares in SCB, valued at about $8.65 billion on the Thai bourse, rose 16 percent in the July-September period, underperforming the main stock index .SETI, which climbed 20 percent. ($1=33.31 Baht) (Reporting by Arada Kultawanich; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
