KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 — CIMB Group Holdings Bhd emerged as the most actively traded stock in the morning session after officially calling off the mega-merger plan with RHB Cap and MBSB yesterday.  At 9.50 am, the counter surged 20 sen or 3.48 per cent to RM5.95 with 19.87 million shares changing hands. The stock opened at a premium of eight sen at RM5.83.

Maybank Investment Bank (MaybankIB) says it expects all the three entities to return their focus on fundamentals and earnings outlook for the individual banks.

“In our recent report dated Jan 12, we stated that the sell-down on CIMB has been a function of both the merger and its poor third quarter 2014 results and Indonesian concerns. 

“Financial year 2015 earnings, meanwhile, would likely be subdued amid weak capital markets and ongoing concerns over CIMB Niaga,” it said in a research note today.

CIMB, RHB Cap and MBSB announced yesterday that they had ceased discussions on the proposed merger and creation of a mega Islamic bank in light of the current economic conditions.

CIMB Group Acting Group Chief Executive Tengku Datuk Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, in a joint statement yesterday, said the decision to cease discussions was arrived at after a detailed review of potential synergies that could be realistically delivered, especially in the current economic environment.  CIMB Group and RHB Capital have withdrawn their application to Bank Negara Malaysia, and the exclusivity agreement entered into by the parties has been terminated with the cessation of the talks. — Bernama