News From : DagangHalal.com (10 Jun 2010)
PETALING JAYA, June 10 (Bernama) — CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd expects to contribute about a 10 to 15 per cent growth to Group revenue this year, driven by increasing demand and expansion plan.
The bank contributed slightly more than 10 percent to Group revenue last year, said its Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Badlisyah Abdul Ghani.
Speaking to Bernama about the expansion plan, he said CIMB Islamic is set to expand its footprint in Indonesia and Singapore, in the second half of this year.
According to Badlisyah, CIMB Islamic will be introducing its Islamic retail business in Singapore, in the early second half of the year.
“We have our wholesale Islamic business and are now expanding the retail business.
“We are not going to expand much in terms of investment, as the existing two CIMB branches will be utilised,” he said on the sidelines of 12th Malaysian Finance Association Conference 2010 here on Thursday.
He was speaking after participating in the, “Unlocking the Potential of the Banking System for a Sustainable Economy”, forum.
Badlisyah said CIMB Islamic will be expanding its Islamic banking services to another 100 branches of the existing 650 CIMB banks in Indonesia.
“We have expanded our footprint to 500 branches to date,” he added.
CIMB Islamic is part of Malaysia’s second largest lender, CIMB, which runs its consumer banking business in Indonesia through PT Bank CIMB Niaga.
Commenting on the forum, he said banks in Malaysia need to continuosly evolve, to meet new challenges in the market in order to contribute to a sustainable economy.
“They need to have the capacity to compete against larger banks in the more liberalised market to ensure a sustainable business.
“In the current competitive business environment, Malaysian banks need to venture abroad,” he stated.
–BERNAMA