Women Who Run Thailand’s Biggest Bank Pledge to Avoid Layoffs

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Kasikornbank Pcl, Thailand’s biggest lender by assets, can avoid laying off staff during the coronavirus pandemic as the bank’s strong capital structure will enable it to cope with rising bad loans.

The Bangkok-based bank has tier-1 capital of more than 16%, a level that enables it to prepare for and deal with economic difficulties and defaults, said new Chief Executive Officer Kattiya Indaravijaya.

“We will take care all of our current employees to get through this very difficult time,” Kattiya said. “The bank’s bad loans will continue to rise with the economic slowdown, but they are still at a manageable level.”

The Thai bank had 20,443 staff at the end of 2019, according to its annual report.

Kasikornbank still plans to step up its overseas expansion, especially in Southeast Asia, said Chairperson Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, who was at the same briefing, the first since she and Kattiya were appointed to their respective positions last week.

Thailand’s economy, the second-biggest in Southeast Asia, will probably post its biggest contraction since the Asian financial crisis more than two decades ago, after a collapse in tourism and broad lockdown of most businesses. The central bank forecasts a decline of 5.3% this year. Kasikornbank and other Thai financial firms are offering clients various debt-relief measures including interest-rate cuts and a grace period to freeze interest and principal payments this year.

Kattiya was promoted to CEO after more than three decades at the bank. Kobkarn is a former tourism minister. Long-time Chairman and CEO Banthoon Lamsam, whose grandfather founded Kasikornbank at the end of the World War II, stepped down from both positions to pursue personal interests.

A career banker since 1987, Kattiya has been through difficult times before, including the 1997 Asian economic crisis, after which the nonperforming loan ratio of even Thailand’s biggest banks surpassed more than 40% of total credit.

Kasikornbank shares have slid 39% this year, exceeding the Thai benchmark index’s 24% decline.

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