Krung Thai Bank Q2 net profit jumps, lagging forecasts
BANGKOK, July 18 (Reuters) - State-run Krung Thai Bank PCL KTB.BK, Thailand's second-largest bank, reported a nearly four-fold jump in quarterly net profit on Friday, due mainly to higher lending and the absence of huge loan-loss provisions.
Net profit for the April-June quarter was 2.03 billion baht ($61 million), or 0.18 baht per share, well below an average forecast of 3.49 billion baht by 13 analysts surveyed by Reuters and compared with 528 million baht in the same period last year.
However, Krung Thai's 2008 prospects were clouded by surging inflation and political uncertainty weighing on economic growth and business sentiment, raising concerns that infrastructure projects might be delayed.
Shares in Krung Thai, which is about 60 percent-owned by the government and valued at $2.7 billion on the Thai bourse, fell 16.3 percent in the April-June period, lagging a 5.93 percent drop of the benchmark SET index .SETI. ($1=33.32 Baht) (Reporting by Arada Therdthammakun; Editing by Darren Schuettler)
