Krungthai said its 2018 net profit totalled 28.5 billion baht ($897 million), but that missed an average estimate of 29.4 billion baht by 21 analysts in a Refinitiv poll.

The state-owned lender said provisions on bad loans fell 41.6 percent to 26.2 billion baht.

Loans rose 4.4 percent from a year earlier as the bank increased lending to individual customers and state-owned companies.

Southeast Asia's second-largest economy is slowing, with the government forecasting growth of at least 3.8 percent this year after it estimated 4 percent growth in 2018.

Krungthai Bank's earnings were pressured by a 10.8 percent drop in fees after an industry-wide waiver on digital transaction fees, while net interest income fell 3.7 percent.

($1 = 31.7700 baht)

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Susan Fenton)