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Published on December 14, 2007

The financial rescue fund holds a 47.58-per-cent stake in SCIB, 55.52 per cent in Krung Thai Bank and 33 per cent in BankThai.

Chaiwat said SCIB was seeking a partner who could help the bank in three core areas - know-how, technology and networking. However, the FIDF will have the final say on the new shareholder.

"Even though the bank has been approached by about 20 financial institutions so far and has also been in talks with them, we haven't found the right strategic partner yet. None of them were perfect in all the areas in which we require inputs," he added.

Chaiwat, however, said the mid-sized bank should be able to find a partner within the remaining three years of his term as president.

Also, the FIDF is scheduled to be shut down by 2013, so the bank should be more proactive in seeking a strategic partner.

Chaiwat said SCIB had targeted loan growth of 12 per cent next year, amounting to Bt30 billion, concentrating mainly on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the retail loan market. The bank wants to increase the proportion of SME and retail lending from 51 per cent of its total loan portfolio currently to 58 per cent by the end of 2008.

The bank has also set an ambitious goal of 22-per-cent growth in fee income next year, up from zero growth this year. SCIB will use its five financial subsidiaries to boost its fee-based income once these subsidiaries become more established, Chaiwat said.

Although SCIB's bank's fee-based income increased significantly over the year, from Bt517 million in the first quarter to Bt1.82 billion in the third quarter, year-on-year growth fell.

Somruedi Banchongduang

 The Nation