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Malaysia

Published: 01 December, 2007 Page: 128

CIMB Group

The figures speak for themselves, with Tier 1 capital, assets and net profits up between 47.64% and 64.04% in the year.

CIMB Group has proven itself to be Malaysia’s most successful bank, thanks to a strategic transformation process aimed at creating a strong and dynamic banking group in south-east Asia, as well as the domestic Malaysian market.

The process began with the creation of a universal banking platform through several strategic M&As between 2005 and 2006. In 2005, CIMB completed the takeover of stockbroker GK Goh Securities, which led to the formation of CIMB-GK, headquartered in Singapore, offering institutional and retail broking, research, wealth management, investment banking and advisory services. The same year, CIMB announced a merger with BCB. The acquisition of SBB last year further strengthened the group’s consumer banking franchise, particularly in areas like credit cards and direct banking. As a result, the bank’s share price soared 36% and CIMB Group’s ranking rose from 11th to third-largest listed company by market capitalisation on Bursa Malaysia.

The bank’s financial performance and product innovation were achieved despite an overarching transformation agenda across the group. The systems and IT integration with the merged SBB was completed in seven months, arguably one of the speediest integration processes worldwide. This exercise involved 46 merger teams, 383 branches and numerous group-wide divisions working to integrate every aspect of the business. Despite the additional workload, CIMB Group made significant progress in long-term capacity building while surpassing its primary financial targets.

“We merged three banks in record time, launched a new brand identity and outperformed our targets over the past 12 months,” says chief executive Nazir Razak. “Clearly, this award recognises our success and the fact that CIMB Group continues to lead the pack in regional expansion, innovation and foresight.

“Looking ahead, we will continue to drive efficiency into the different arms of our business, with a very clear view of providing value-added and differentiated products and services to our customers across the region.

“We are on our way to achieving our vision, which is to be south-east Asia’s most valued universal bank. Being voted best bank in Malaysia for the second year running is another feather in our cap as we strive for that goal.”