Malaysia’s CIMB tilts towards Singapore and Indonesia as regional bets deliver stronger returns

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia’s second-largest lender CIMB is moving its growth engine beyond home turf, ramping up in Indonesia and Singapore – two markets that now account for nearly 40 per cent of group earnings – as it chases gains in Islamic finance, corporate banking and wealth management, said its top executive.

The move is part of a strategic pivot by the bank’s group CEO Novan Amirudin, who is steering the bank with total assets of RM755 billion (S$229 billion) towards higher-yield markets with capital optimisation.

“We have scale in the Asean region and will continue to play in all three segments – consumer, wholesale and commercial. The question lies on which part of the cycle we are in, where do we continue to double down and allocate more capital, and where should we hold back,” he told The Business Times in a recent interview.