Malaysia's AFB to implement corporate banking model in Indonesia, Philippines

Asian Finance Bank staged a turnaround for its financial year ended Dec 31, 2011, said CEO Datuk Mohamed Azahari Kamil.

As a consequence, it posted a small profit, which according to Mohamed Azahari was contributed by the corporate banking sector.

AFB had posted losses of about RM30 million for its financial year 2010 due to the provisions made for small-medium enterprises funding.

Mohamed Azahari said while the bank's corporate banking sector had contributed about 70 per cent tothe profit for AFB s financial year 2011, the rest came from its retail sector.

AFB s new corporate banking model, which focuses on corporate advisory services and implemented bythe bank early last year has been fruitful, resulting in the growth of its funded assets to RM1billion now.

"We intend to grow this to RM1.5 billion by year-end. We are confident of success as we are focusing on the right business model," he said.

Under the corporate banking model, AFB will provide the financial bridging for Malaysiangovernment-linked companies and public-listed companies, looking for ventures in the Middle East,particularly, Qatar.

He said AFB planned to implement the model in other countries in the Asian region, especially,Indonesia and the Philippines.

He also said that AFB would continue to focus on its corporate advisory services and not expand itsretail sector, including the funding of SMEs.

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