TMB fully geared up for strong and sustainable growth Targeting 15% income growth in 2010

TMB announced that 2010 will be a year that it will leverage its operational strength for strong and sustainable growth by setting a target of achieving 17% growth in deposits and 10% growth in lending. The Bank intends to improve its asset quality by reducing its ratio of non-performing loans to a single digit. Within five years, TMB plans to increase its Return on Equity (ROE) to 14% by 2014.


Mr. Boontuck Wungcharoen, Chief Executive Officer, TMB Bank, said TMB intends to reinforce its strength and leadership as one of Thailand’s leading banks by sustaining the momentum it gained from its 2009 successes. Last year, the Bank’s net profit grew by nearly 400% to 2,044 million baht as a result of restructuring and implementation of a bank-wide transformation program which included: organizational restructuring, development of branches towards service excellence, end-to-end processes revamp, Human Resources Transformation (2008-2009) and upgrading of risk management frameworks and policies. TMB’s brand image has also improved considerably as reflected in an independent survey whereby 80% of target groups have shown interest in using TMB services compared with only 31% in last May.

Mr. Boontuck unveiled the Bank’s 2010 business direction as the second stage of its five-year plan. TMB has laid down four key strategies namely: Growing with quality; enhancing operational efficiency; preempting and clearing NPLs; and delivering value-added products and services to customers, under-pinned by its focus to become an employer of choice.

Mr. Boontuck said in 2010 the Bank targets to achieve 15% income growth; boosting fee-based income by 20%; 17% deposit growth; and 10% growth in lending from last year. In lending facilities, the Bank targets a 20% increase in the SMEs segment, a 10% growth in the wholesale segment and between 7-8% in retail credits.

In 2010 the Bank aims to develop the quality of assets by stemming potential non-performing loans, in tandem with reducing existing NPLs. The target is to reduce its NPL ratio from 12.7% in 2009 to 9% or less through debt restructuring and auctioning NPLs as opportunities arise.

Mr. Boontuck said “TMB has a healthy capital base, with a Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 17.1%, up from 13.9% in 2008. From all the transformation we have conducted throughout last year, the Bank now stands on solid operational ground, ready to achieve business targets set for 2010, in line with economic forecasts that show improvement from last year.”
HR Transformation — Becoming a performance-based organization

Another key priority for TMB is to continue its Human Resources transformation that the Bank began the end of last year to become a performance based organization.

Mr. Boontuck also said that employees constitute the core of being a performance-based organization and are at the heart of our HR transformation. “TMB wants to have an environment that recognizes competency, rewards performance and provides robust opportunities for career development.”

The transformation to become a performance-based organization will include: organizational design, clarifying functional roles, benchmark compensation with market rate, job grading, aligning titles with functional roles and designing a total compensation package.

Mr. Boontuck concluded that “Upon completion of the HR Transformation program, the total compensation package for staff will be benchmarked with that of the market and individual competency. Variable Performance Bonus will be paid on the basis of the Bank’s overall performance and individual performance. In addition, employees will have enhanced opportunities for career development, expanding functional roles and taking on greater responsibilities. This will allow employees to maximize their potential at work and to increase their competency and performance.”

TMB Bank Public Company LimitedFounded on 8 November 1957, TMB Bank Pcl. operates a commercial banking business under a license granted by the Ministry of Finance, and with consent given by the Bank of Thailand. It also operates a securities business licensed by the Ministry of Finance and agreed to by the Securities Exchange Commission.

TMB aims to respond to the needs of its clients through its 486 branch network, 105 foreign exchange centers, 2,266 ATMs, as well as electronics banking systems. Its business encompasses commercial banking, offshore banking, investment banking, and other businesses as permitted by the regulatory authorities, including acting as an insurance agent for its alliance insurance companies.

Listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, TMB is the sixth largest bank, by total assets, in Thailand. As at 31 December 2009, its total assets are valued at THB 541,637 million.

High-level UN meeting to examine progress in implementation of plan to help least developed countries

Bangladesh Prime Minister scheduled to address Dhaka event

Bangkok (UN ESCAP Information Services) – The United Nations is set to convene a meeting next week in Bangladesh to assess and develop a regional position for Asia and the Pacific ahead of a global review next year on progress made in assisting the world’s least developed countries (LDCs).


From 18 to 20 January in Dhaka, ministers and senior government officials from15 countries will also seek to identify key issues requiring global and regional cooperation to further advance the objectives of the 2001-2010 Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA). That programme seeks “to make substantial progress toward halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and suffering from hunger by 2015 and promote the sustainable development of the LDCs.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh is slated to inaugurate the meeting, and ministers from eight LDCs are expected to take part in a ministerial-level exchange. Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), will participate in the meeting along with Cheick Sidi Diarra, UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

During her visit, Dr. Heyzer is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Hasina, as well as with President Zillur Rahman, Finance Minister Abul Mal A Muhith and Foreign Minister Dipu Moni. The Executive Secretary’s itinerary also includes a visit to the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed, a rehabilitation facility for injured spinal patients outside Dhaka in Savar.

Discussions at the three-day meeting are expected to cover issues and concerns related to reducing poverty and hunger by promoting sustainable and inclusive development in the LDCs; promoting food security through sustainable agriculture; and enhancing the share of LDCs in global trade, aid and financial flows and promoting their productive capacity.

Participants will also look at protecting the environment and reducing the vulnerability of the LDCs to climate change, and developing human and institutional capacities to support inclusive and sustainable development of the LDCs.

The meeting’s results will be presented in May to the annual ESCAP Commission session in Incheon, Republic of Korea, for further discussion by member States. Afterwards an assessment of implementation of the BPoA and future priorities at the regional level will be transmitted to the global review in 2011 in Turkey.

The 14 LDCs in the Asia-Pacific region for the purposes of Brussels review include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Yemen, the lone LDC in the Middle East, is also participating in the meeting.