SINGAPORE, Jan 16 — RHB Bank plans a three-fold expansion of its Singapore business within the next three years by focusing on business banking as well as well as corporate and investment banking.
Speaking at the official opening of RHB’s latest branch at West Gate Mall here today, U Chen Hock, Director of Group International Business at RHB Banking Group, said that relocating to the new West Gate branch is the first of a series of moves to support their strategic business priorities to achieve the goal.
At a media briefing later, U said: “In the last four to six months we have been busy preparing to reposition the Singapore business as part of the overall RHB Group’s regional strategy.
“RHB Group has been a Malaysian-centric bank, we are the fourth largest bank in Malaysia, we had a limited footprint outside Malaysia until the merger between RHB and OSK-DMG & Partners Securities last year.”
Singapore remains the top overseas contributor to the Group’s business, U said, adding RHB is now operating in seven Asean countries, and will be opening a branch in Laos by the middle of this year.
“We hope to grow our overseas revenue outside Malaysia to 40 per cent by 2020,” he said.
U said RHB Singapore is a very key market, and the SMEs market offers a great opportunity and potential for growth.
“It is timely because right now a lot of Singapore SMEs are looking to expand overseas and many of them have already been out whether it is in Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia due to the cost and margin pressure in the republic,” U said.
“Our presence in Malaysia will be able to help us to service SMEs to expand beyond Singapore and across Malaysia very well, because we have a good knowledge of the market in Malaysia,” he said, adding that RHB’s presence in Singapore can assist the SMEs on the other side.
Another area of potential growth is wealth management.
As Singapore has been a financial services centre, he said, RHB will be able
to capture those customers who are already known to them in the home market whether it is in Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia.
“For us, we can refer and capture them in Singapore and service them,” he said.
On the 40 per cent revenue growth by 2020, U said: “A lot will come from organic growth but it will not be enough, so we are also looking at opportunistic acqusition in the region.
“What we are doing today is to ensure that all our seven branches are in the best possible location to allow us very easy access to the segments that we aspire to acquire a lot more.
“The choice of this branch is very timely, it is in a brand new mall in a really inner location of Jurong East which has been given a lot of emphasis by the government to create a second central business district.”
Meanwhile, Country Head, RHB Singapore, Jason Wong noted that moving to Jurong East was a strategic decision to tap the more than 3,000 companies around the International Business Park and the the Jurong and Tuas Industrial Estate.
By early February, RHB will also be relocating its Upper Serangoon branch to Tai Seng, which will focus on serving the SMEs and corporations within the vicinity as part of its plans to grow the SME banking business.
Wong also said that to meet the increased business needs, RHB Bank Singapore will be looking to double its staff strength to 1,000 from the current 500. — Bernama
