The Islamic Bank of Thailand (IBank) has set a loan growth target of 8 billion baht this year, up from more than 6 billion baht registered last year, according to the bank's chief.
Thaweelap Rittapirom, president of IBank, said that over the past few years the bank has pursued a more aggressive loan expansion strategy and accelerated its growth efforts.
Last year IBank's loan portfolio expanded by 6.25 billion baht, representing growth of 11% year-on-year.
Regarding the bank's non-performing financing, it tallied 16% of outstanding loans. The bank aims to reduce this ratio to 10% or lower this year, he said.
Despite the fragile economic environment last year, IBank recorded an operating profit of 841 million baht, up 16% year-on-year, while net profit totalled 491 million baht, marking a fifth consecutive year of profitability.
The bank serves 1.22 million customers and added 80,000 new customers last year. Customers in the five southern border provinces account for 14.5% of the total population in those provinces.
Mr Thaweelap said the bank's Hajj and Umrah deposit products grew by 59% last year, reaching a total value of more than 3.4 billion baht.
IBank has continued to upgrade its digital services through its app, which has more than 230,000 users, marking growth of 95% year-on-year.
He said the bank is emphasising environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. Following assessments of ethics and transparency in public sector operations, IBank achieved an "excellent pass" rating in the Integrity and Transparency Assessment and received a perfect score of 100 for anti-corruption measures, including in the environmental dimension.
For this year the bank announced a new strategy focused on value-based intermediation (VBI), a value-driven financial intermediation model regarded as integral to transforming the banking business.
The VBI concept emphasises creating value beyond profit alone to differentiate itself from conventional banks, encompasses economic and ESG dimensions in line with Islamic finance principles.
VBI is touted under the concept of "trust, confidence, sustainability", aiming to enhance transparent and fair financial experiences for everyone, said Mr Thaweelap.
IBank was ranked 69th globally among the top 100 Islamic banks by asset size last year by The Asian Banker. Within the region, Islamic banks in Indonesia ranked 20th, Malaysia 22nd, and Brunei 38th.
