Bank now plans to open more branches and hire more staff
DBS Group chairman Koh Boon Hwee is hoping this year will be an even more profitable period for DBS Taiwan.
TAIPEI: The Year of the Ox has turned out to be a bullish one for DBS Taiwan, which has turned in profits earlier than expected and now plans to increase its manpower by about 30 per cent this year.
DBS, which expanded its presence on the island by acquiring local bank Bowa in 2008, has done 'significantly better' than expected in Taiwan, DBS Group chairman Koh Boon Hwee said at a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
He earlier warned that the bank's operations in Taiwan might only break even in 2009, as it needed to build up its brand on the island.
Yesterday, however, Mr Koh said DBS Taiwan had already started contributing to the group's bottom line, and that it was expecting profits to grow further this year.
DBS Taiwan expects to chalk up pretax profits exceeding NT$600 million (S$26 million) for last year after suffering losses in 2008.
It posted a pretax profit of NT$495 million in the first 10 months of last year.
Mr Koh hopes the Year of the Tiger will be a 'roaring' one for DBS Taiwan.
The bank plans to increase its headcount in Taiwan from about 1,100 to 1,400 by the end of the year.
It may add three branches to its current 40 branches in Taiwan, but it has not decided when to do so, according to DBS Taiwan general manager Jerry Chen.
DBS Taiwan hopes to apply to regulators to become locally incorporated by May next year, Mr Chen added.
It has seen its assets grow from about NT$120 billion in 2008 to NT$151.5 billion as of September last year, according to the Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission.
'As China and Taiwan become more integrated economically, we expect opportunities in Taiwan to accelerate,' said Mr Koh.
He said DBS also plans to boost its presence in China.
It hopes to add more branches and increase its headcount in China by about 20 per cent to 30 per cent.
'We have applications (put) in for branches and sub-branches. We have as many as we are allowed to put in,' said Mr Koh.
However, he did not specify how many more branches DBS is hoping to open in China.
DBS currently has seven branches and seven sub-branches and more than 1,000 employees on the mainland.
Last week, it received its first licence to set up a branch in Vietnam.
The group expects the branch to be up and running in Ho Chi Minh City by the second half of the year.
While DBS wants to expand its footprint in Asia, it is not all about adding more branches, said Mr Koh.
Technology nowadays allows banking to be done without a branch.
What matters more is the productivity of assets and staff, he said.
'It's important to recognise that the nature of banking has changed... Unless you are going to be a mass market retail bank, (the number of) branches is not the criterion,' he said.
Source: Straits Times, 20 Jan 2010.
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