Wednesday, Sep 21, 2011
(This story was originally published Tuesday.)
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD.AD), the largest bank by market value in the United Arab Emirates, plans to open a Malaysian subsidiary in January and has applied for a licence in Shanghai, as the lender looks to boost its international revenues, the company's top executive said on Tuesday.
The Malaysia office will offer a wide range of banking services, including wholesale and private banking, while it aims to open a representative office in Shanghai, NBAD Chief Executive Michael Tomalin told reporters on the sidelines of a business conference in Dubai.
"Basically we want to build a bridge between Malaysia, the rest of South East Asia and the Arab world," Tomalin said.
NBAD's crosstown rival First Gulf Bank recently said it wants to open 4 branches in South East Asia, including Indonesia.
NBAD currently boasts 113 branches in its domestic market of the United Arab Emirates and 49 overseas. The bank recently shut down its Libyan operations but still holds a representative office there.
"Let the dust settle first," Tomalin said when asked of the bank would consider a full return to that market, adding the lender currently has no country manager there.
NBAD aims to boost its share of revenues stemming from international operations to between 20% and 25%, from 15% currently by 2020 but will prefer organic growth rather than acquisitions, he said.
NBAD's Tomalin said there was no need to issue bonds and that the bank won't need to raise new capital under Basel III requirements, while he also doesn't expect any direct impact on operations from a potential Greek default.
The bank's shares closed trading Tuesday down 0.5% at AED10.70 in a slightly negative overall market.
-By Nicolas Parasie, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1681; nicolas.parasie@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
21-09-11 0355GMT
