CIMB aims for top 3 spot in Asean by 2015

CIMB's group chief executive sees the group doing more mergers and acquisitions to grow

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (1023) aims to be among the top three banking groups in Asean by 2015, in terms of market and asset size, its chief says.

This underscores its ambition of becoming "a leading Asean franchise" by that year, group chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said at a media briefing on its brand streamlining exercise here yesterday.

The group is currently the fifth largest in the region.

"I do foresee over this period to 2015, we'll do more mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to grow," he said, adding, however, that M&As will not be a priority for CIMB this year unless a compelling opportunity arises.
He said the group may not necessarily be in all ten countries within the Asean grouping by 2015, but would eventually like to. It is currently missing only in two, the Philippines and Laos.

"We would certainly like that one day ... we will get there in time," he remarked.

Other broad targets CIMB has outlined for itself to achieve by 2015 include having a market capitalisation of over RM100 billion from some RM61 billion now, and the top three return-on-equity (ROE) among Asean banks.

Its ROE, a measure of profitability, stood at 16.3 per cent last year, while its asset size was about RM300 billion.

The group also aims for its consumer banking operations in the region to constitute more than 60 per cent of its revenue or pre-tax profit by then.

The CIMB group, Malaysia's second largest by asset size after Malayan Banking Bhd, has gone on an acquisition spree since 2005 in its bid to become a universal bank that operates within the region.

Its core markets today are Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, but it also has a presence in Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam.

To reflect its move to becoming a unified, leading Asean franchise, CIMB will spend RM8 million this year to convert the different colours of its brands to just a single one - red.

"Our change to red is an important step forward and will further our claim to be the region's most Asean company," Nazir said, adding that red was chosen because it was the dominant colour for the brand across the region.

The banking group, which started on the colour conversion exercise in early March this year, expects to fully complete it - including on its office buildings, signage and advertising material - by the end of June.