Land and Houses Financial Business Group Announced its 2022 Performance with Profit Growth of 14%, Low NPL at 2.09% Highlighting its 2023 Strategy to Penetrate High-yield Loan Portfolio and Grow Retail Customer Base through Digital Platform
Mr. Shih Jiing-Fuh, president of LH Financial Group PublicCompany Limited or LHFG Said "The overall Thai economy in 2023is likely to expand constantly by 3.7%, driven by the improvedtourism sector, employment and private investment and it isexpected that inflation will gradually decrease in line with energyprices.
However, other risk factors that may affect the recovery of theThai economy including the recovery of household income and somefragile business sectors, tightening monetary policy of major tradingpartners, especially the United States and the European Union aswell as the geopolitical risks of the Russian-Ukrainian dispute, are tobe monitored."The 2023 strategy of Land and Houses financial business groupfocuses on offering a complete range of financial and investmentproducts that are suitable for the situation and investment timing forcustomers via digital platform, including synergy strategies betweenthe entities in the financial business group and CTBC, parentcompany of Land and Houses financial business group to jointlytailor products and services that meet the needs of all customersegments and reach out more customer base to the segments thatengage in foreign transactions (Trade Finance). In addition, newforms of credit products and loans for potential customers who do nothave an access to funding sources, have also been innovated.In 2022, the performance of Land and Houses Financial BusinessGroup showed a net profit of Baht 1,579 million or grew by 14.1%yoy, mainly due to an increase in interest income. Loan growth was23% from all segments, especially retail, SME and Taiwanesecustomers with a growth of 35%,47% and 95%, respectively whilethe NPL was low at 2.09 percent, decreased from 2.44 percent lastyear. The bank has also set the substantial amount of provision for
doubtful accounts to buffer the impacts from customers potentiallyaffected by COVID-19. As a result, NPL Coverage stood at 221%.Ms. Chompoonoot Pathomporn, Chief Executive Officer andpresident of Land and Houses Bank Public Company Limited orLH Bank, revealed "Seeing the technological disruptions in thefinancial services industry, the bank focuses on developing newbusiness models using technologies in various forms for moreeffective financial services. The key pillars in formulating the strategicplan include sustainability, digital enabling, resilience and appropriaterisk appetite."The bank's strategy for 2023 is to emphasize the growth in loanportfolio that generates good returns or high-yield segments withproper risk management, including cross selling of the bank'sproducts and increasing fee income including developing digitalcapabilities (Digital Transformation) that help improve workprocesses to be more agile. Moreover, the bank also makes full useof data analytics along with upgrading the digital platforms to addressthe needs for complete financial and investment transactions such as"LH Bank Profita" Investment Application and "LHB You" MobileBanking Application that have been rolled out recently, with newfeatures of financial highlights that correspond to every lifestyle ofspending, deposit-withdrawal-transfer or any type of investments.LHB You allows you to personalize your own financial lifestylethrough exploring the identity of customers in the form of AVATAR tocreate a profile that is outstanding, unique, user-friendly, completetransactions in a one-stop service, without visiting any branch.Consequently, all financial needs that are smarter than before withmore customizations are fulfilled.In addition, the bank places the importance on sustainable bankingby operating its business with care, environmental and socialaccountabilities and good governance principles including supportingESG goals.Mr. Monrat Phadungsit, President of Land and Houses FundManagement Company Limited or LH Fund mentioned "The 2023strategy is to expand the private fund customer base, bothinstitutional and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Private fund clientswill receive advice on tactical asset allocation and portfolio strategyfrom strong international partners in portfolio management to meet
particular needs of each investor. The company is moving forward toenhance digital service systems through online platforms as tofacilitate investment for all investors."For fund performance in 2022, the company had the fund undermanagement including property funds and real estate investmenttrusts (REITs) of approximately Baht 55,657 million, decreased by15% yoy. For private funds, the fund size was Baht 14,235 millionwith 51% growth, while the provident fund (PVD) was Baht 6,046million with 4% growth.In addition, the company received the "Excellence In Innovation inthe category of House Awards" from Fund Selector Asia AwardsThailand 2022, which guarantee the continued success from 2021 inintroducing innovations to bring about success."LH Fund Growth is a fund that invests in growth stocks. Theperformance as of December 31, 2022, during the 3-month, 6-month,1-year period was 7.27%, 8.46% and 6.36% (% per year),respectively. It surpassed the benchmark which was 5.19%, 7.65%and 3.54% (% per year), respectively", added Mr. Monrat.Mr. Kan Atthamsunthorn, president of Land and HousesSecurities Public Company Limited or LH Securities, revealedthat the strategic plan for 2023 that the company continued the focuson sustainable growth by enhancing technologies to boost upcompetitiveness and increase more convenience for customers.Besides, it also aimed at extending investment services to newsegments of customers through the use of data analytics in parallelwith investment product development to respond to all "Excellence InInnovation in the category of House Awards" from Fund SelectorAsia Awards Thailand 2022 conditions in order to generate lucrativereturns for investors. We are developing a system to connect with LHBank's Mobile Banking Application "LHB You" to add more servicechannels through digital platforms so that customers can receiveintegrated financial and investment services and expand the retailcustomer base.According to the 2022 performance, the company had a totalbrokerage fee income of Baht 186.1 million, decreased from 2021, inline with the sluggish stock market turnover compared to the highbase in 2021. However, the company received total interest anddividend income of Baht 414.6 million, increased by 9.8% from 2021,resulting in a net profit of Baht 134.6 million.