ANZ Taiwan aims to top its rivals in earnings growth this year, driven by mortgages and corporate loans after the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group acquired some of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group’s (RBS) businesses in Asia, top executives said yesterday.
The superregional lender, the fourth largest in Australia, but the biggest in New Zealand, purchased RBS’ retail, wealth and commercial businesses in Taiwan in April last year, as part of an attempt to deepen its presence in Asia.
“We expect to outperform other banks in terms of profit growth this year,” ANZ Taiwan chief executive officer Terry King (經天瑞) told a media briefing. “The company started to turn a profit in June following the acquisition and has since stayed in the black each month.”
In particular, ANZ Taiwan plans to tap further into the mortgage loan market by targeting affluent customer groups with investable assets of between NT$500,000 (US$17,040) and NT$3 million, said Emerald Shih (石青玉), head of retail banking and wealth management.
“Making profits will become difficult this year as the global economic recovery has pushed up investment tool costs, but real estate investment remains a promising and safe asset allocation owing to low interest rates,” Shih said.
ANZ Taiwan expects mortgage loans to double this year, from NT$8 billion last year, Shih said.
To that end, the foreign lender plans to enlarge its sales staff to 100, from the current 10, she said.
However, ANZ Taiwan doesn’t expect to see growth in its credit card business, but would rather take a wait-and-see attitude until after the government announces new penalty and interest rate rules in late April.
“That explains why we intend to raise the weight of mortgage loans in retail banking,” Shih said.
ANZ Taiwan has a long history in Asia, spanning 40 years, and is committed to creating a superregional bank in the Asia-Pacific region. It is one of the world’s 30 largest banks.
ANZ Taiwan currently owns 18 branches in major cities around Taiwan and will apply to set up a subsidiary later this year, King said.
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