MAYBANK: LITTLE IMPACT FROM U.S.-CHINA TRADE ROW
Bank’s exposure to Asia’s largest economy only at 3pc, says group president and CEO
MALAYAN Banking Bhd (Maybank) does not expect to be deeply impacted by the ongoing trade spat between China and the United States as its exposure to trade in Asia’s largest economy is only three per cent.
Nevertheless, its group president and chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Farid Alias is optimistic that cooler heads will prevail and an all-out trade war will be averted.
“The story is still evolving and we are watching what these two nations will do in reaction to each other. However, we are optimistic that we might not even see a trade war,” he said after Maybank’s annual general meeting (AGM) here yesterday.
Farid said Maybank’s presence in Greater China was through Shanghai, Beijing, Kunming and Shenzhen, where the bank’s business was mainly in debt and commodities.
“At three per cent, there is no impact as of right now,” he said.
The threat of a potential trade war between the world’s two biggest economies has been escalating in recent months following tit-for-tat announcements of huge tariffs on certain products from the countries.
Last week, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose US$100 billion (RM387.6 billion) worth of additional tariffs on top of the newly-introduced US$50 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods, claiming that China was stealing US intellectual property. China responded by announcing US$50 billion worth of tariffs on US goods.
Maybank first established a presence in China in 1993 with its a representative office in Beijing.
On newly-formed MBSB Bank Bhd, Farid said the new entity, which is now the country’s second largest Islamic bank after Maybank Islamic Bhd, will not cut into the group’s Islamic business.
“Maybank Islamic’s business goes beyond housing loan, though that is a big chunk of it. We are also in retail and have a very strong (presence) in corporate banking, as well as are a leader in global sukuk issuances.
“We have also seen our Islamic business grow in Indonesia through PT Bank Maybank Syariah Indonesia and are now enjoying the same kind of momentum that we have seen in the early days in Malaysia,” said Farid
At the AGM yesterday, Maybank declared a final single-tier dividend of 32 sen for its financial year ended December 31.