Alpha X Ltd, a luxury car loan provider under SCB X, aims to grow its auto loan portfolio to 20 billion baht by 2025 and plans to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) within five years.
The company started in the vehicle loan business in January 2022, covering high-purchase loans, refinancing and leasing. It is in the process of offering car title loans.
Alpha X's loan service covers premium vehicles, yachts, riverboats and large bikes, with a minimum price of 3 million baht.
Wasin Saiyawan, chief executive of Alpha X, said the company focuses on high net worth individuals who have high purchasing power, strong loan demand and were unburdened from the past two years of economic turbulence.
While the pandemic has adversely affected the country's new car sales, the luxury car market has taken less of a hit.
For 2021, the country's new car registrations numbered 490,000 units, a fall of 28% from 2019, while luxury car registrations totalled 26,000 units, down 17%.
SCB EIC, a research house under Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), forecast luxury car sales for 2022 will grow by 14% from the year before, in line with the Thai economic rebound.
With the positive economic trend, Alpha X aims to grow outstanding luxury car loans to 5 billion baht this year and keep non-performing loans below 1%.
The company plans to expand its loan portfolio to 20 billion baht by 2025.
Thailand's outstanding auto loans are worth around 2 trillion baht per year, of which 200-300 billion baht, or 10-15%, are luxury vehicle loans.
The large market for luxury car loans leaves more room for the company to enter this segment, he said.
The company offers a competitive interest rate for loans of 2% per year on average, said Mr Wasin.
He said the company applied for a car title loan licence from the Bank of Thailand and is awaiting approval.
Alpha X expects to offer this loan product around the middle of this year, said Mr Wasin.
"As a startup, Alpha X plans to list on the SET in five years, in line with the business strategy of our parent, SCB X," he said.
In related news, SCB informed the SET on Tuesday about a tender offer for the bank's securities by SCB X, as part of SCB Group's ongoing business restructuring plan.
According to the filing, SCB X is making a tender offer for the existing shares of SCB in exchange for the same type of securities of SCB X at a swap ratio of 1:1, which means 1 newly issued ordinary share of SCB X per 1 ordinary share of SCB, and 1 newly issued ordinary share of SCB X per 1 preferred share of SCB.
The tender offer process started on March 2 and runs until April 18, in preparation for a listing of SCB X on the SET and the delisting of SCB shares from the local bourse.
