Third-quarter earnings of the eight SET-listed banks reached a combined 43.54 billion baht, a rise of 8% year-on-year.
Net profits for the first nine months totalled 127.72 billion baht, an increase of 5.73%.
Profitable results were mainly contributed by big players, while small banks, particularly lenders of auto finance, showed weak operating results following the slump in car sales.
Bangkok Bank (BBL) recorded a 6.9% year-on-year rise in its third-quarter net profit at 9.57 billion baht, while its net profit in the first nine months dropped by 2.3% to 27.57 billion baht.
Kasikornbank (KBank) yesterday reported a 16.8% year-on-year rise in its third-quarter net profit to 12.52 billion baht. Its net profit for the first nine months rose by 13.8% to 36.19 billion baht.
The bank's improved profitability was a result of improving net income by 15.02% for the first nine months, helped by growth of its net interest income by 14.38% and of non-interest income by 15.98%.
For the first nine months of this year, KBank expanded its total loans by 4.32%, while its non-performing loans (NPLs) slightly increased to 2.16% of its loan portfolio, as of last month, from 2.11% at the end of 2013.
Bank of Ayudhya (BAY) announced weaker profits in the third quarter of 3.51 billion baht, down by 7.4% year-on-year, due mainly to higher loan-loss provisions.
The bank set aside 4.88 billion baht for its loan-loss reserves in the third quarter, up by 55.3% from the same period last year.
For the first nine months of the year, Bank of Ayudhya's net profit stood at 10.23 billion baht, down by 5.79% year-on-year, as it booked one-time extra income from the same period last year.
The bank booked broad loan growth of 3.3% for the first nine months across all customer segments. As of last month, its NPLs had increased to 3.26% of outstanding loans from 2.92% in June, driven by bad loans for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Kiatnakin Bank's third-quarter net profit dropped by 14.4% year-on-year to 846.94 million baht. Its profit for the first nine months declined by 36.6% to 2.15 billion baht.
The weaker result was caused by higher loan-loss provisions of 570 million baht in the third quarter, compared with 344 million baht in the same period last year.
For the first nine months, Kiatnakin Bank's total loans contracted by 1.5%, largely due to a 4.6% fall in auto loans in line with the country's 38.3% drop in car sales from the same period of last year.
As of last month, its NPLs had significantly increased to 5.6% from 3.8% at the end of last year.
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) this week reported a rise in third-quarter earnings by 4.2% year-on-year to 13.3 billion baht thanks to higher interest revenue and lower loan-loss provisions.
TMB Bank reported a 27.6% year-on-year rise in third-quarter net profit, while Tisco Financial Group showed a fall in its earnings by 3.8% to 1.09 billion baht.