After tumbling profits and falling fortunes, Malaysia's Bank Islam has hired some heavy hitters to try and turn the ailing Islamic bank around.
Since joining in June 2006, Zukri bin Samat, BIMB's MD, has been trying to overhaul the catastrophe of 2005 and 2006 where the bank's losses were so vast that they eradicated the shareholders' funds and capital base and BIMB was forced into a humbling RM1bn (4330m) recapitalization exercise.
Samat has nimbly wielded the axe, reorganizing the management structure, branding and personnel. With the resuscitation stage of the process completed with BIMB returning to profit in a record-breaking way showing profits before zakat and tax of RM503.4m ($165m) in the 18-months to the end of 2010, he has moved onto the next stage - growth.
To lead the charge BIMB has coaxed Zamani Abdul Ghani, former deputy governor of the Bank of Malaysia, out of retirement to become chairman as well as a number of other key management hires.
The bank did not respond to The Islamic Globe about its immediate plans by the time the newspaper went to press. However, the word on the street is that BIMB is gearing up for international expansion with Bangladesh as a prime target. The bank already has a 12% stake in Sri Lanka's Amana Investments.
© The Islamic Globe 2011
