CIMB Thai says it has no plans to delist

BANGKOK: CIMB Thai Bank said it had no plans at this stage to delist if its parent, Malaysia's CIMB Group went ahead with a plan to list in Bangkok itself, according to Reuters.

CIMB, Malaysia's second-largest bank, could become the first foreign company with a dual listing in Thailand. When it unveiled the plan in November, CIMB Thai shares soared on speculation the parent would buy out the 6.85 percent it didn't already own.

"At the moment, we aren't thinking about delisting at all," CIMB Thai President Subhak Siwaraksa told Reuters. "We aren't doing or preparing things to do with that ... If our parent lists here, that doesn't mean we have to get out."

The Malaysian bank said in November it planned to raise about US$136 million from a public offering in Thailand by the middle of 2010.

Some investors reckoned it would pay a premium to buy out remaining shareholders in the Thai unit and CIMB Thai shares soared 116 percent in November alone.

The shares have continued to rise this year and were up 3.5 percent early on Wednesday, Jan 6. But they fell back after Subhak's comments and at the midsession break were up just 1.4 percent at 2.90 baht. The main Thai index was 0.27 percent higher.

"The denial should help end the surge and the speculation, as the stock now seems overbought compared with its fundamentals," said Rachanok Dandamrongrak, a strategist at Thanachart Securities.

LOAN BOOK GROWTH

CIMB bought a stake in the Thai bank, formerly called BankThai, from a Thai central bank unit in 2008 and completed its acquisition early last year.

CIMB Thai, which has 133 billion baht in assets and 74 billion in loans, operates 147 branches with 3,700 staff and runs a securities firm, an asset management company, two hire purchase firms and an insurance operation.

Subhak said CIMB Thai hoped its loan book would grow 12 percent this year thanks to an improvement in the economy, but lending in 2009 probably shrank slightly, missing its 1.0 percent growth target.

Higher investment and consumption could boost the economy 3-4 percent this year, Subhak said, expecting lending to expand in sectors such as tourism, exports, cars and electronics as a result.

"Our loan expansion and profits for last year might not look so high as we were restructuring and improving our products ... but we are now ready to expand in 2010," Subhak said.

"Definitely, we will make a net profit this year ... For 2009, I can't tell you now as we are going to report the results in the next two weeks," he added.

The small lender said in October it expected to show its first profit in four years in 2009 because of higher net interest margins and a drop in provisioning costs.

One analyst surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S forecast a net loss of 409 million baht for 2009 against a 1.99 billion baht loss in 2008, and expected the bank to return to a net profit of 1.44 billion this year.

It posted a net loss of 40.6 million baht in the first nine months of 2009.

The bank also wants to get rid of some of its bad debt this year, aiming to reduce non-performing loans from 11.32 percent of lending now, but Subhak gave no new details.

Last month its Malaysian parent said its SEASAM unit would buy bad debt from CIMB Thai with a net book value of RM300 million (US$89 million). - Reuters