M’sia’s biggest bond house sees end to post-election doldrums

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian capital markets are finally shaking off the lull that followed Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s surprise election win five months ago, according to the nation’s biggest bond underwriter.

“We’re seeing a better pipeline going forward,” CIMB Group Holdings Bhd chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz ( pic) said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

“We’ve seen more activity happening in the capital markets, especially the treasury markets.”

Dr Mahathir returned to power in May by toppling the government that had ruled for six decades since Malaysia’s independence, leading to uncertainty over the new administration’s policies.

Bond sales have fallen in the past two quarters as companies with- held financing plans on concern over state spending cuts that have led to billion-dollar contracts being canceled or deferred.

That’s about to change as companies return to capital markets to raise funds, Zafrul said. CIMB is set to be the country’s top bond arranger for a 14th consecutive year in 2018.

“There’s an expectation that the government will have to address some of the challenges on the fiscal side,” he said. “But in the shorter term we still need to balance growth, so fiscal discipline is good, but not at the expense of growth.”

Greater activity in capital markets could help Zafrul achieve his target of booking record profit this year and turning around the bank’s shares, which have underperformed its peers. The nation’s second-largest lender has slumped 7.6% this year, compared to the 4.9% gain in the Bursa Malaysia Finance Index.

Zafrul said he’s not being considered for the chairman role to be vacated by Datuk Seri Nazir Razak by the end of 2018. Nazir, whose brother Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was ousted as prime minister in the general election, said in September that he will step down after 29 years at the bank, half of which were as CEO.

“We’re at that stage now where we’re executing the succession programme,” Zafrul said.

The lender will announce the next chairman once the central bank approves the appointment, he added.

Zafrul is targeting the biggest-ever profit for CIMB in 2018, after net income in the first half reached a record RM3.29bil. Profit jumped 80% in the second quarter from a year earlier to RM1.98bil, as the sale of stakes in asset managers helped to offset slow lending.

The bank is targeting 6% loan growth this year, after financing increased 3.4% in the first six months. — Bloomberg