United Overseas Bank (M) Bhd (UOB) plans to gain market share and enhance profits by building on its niche in commercial lending, personal financial services and capital market activities this year, said chief executive officer Chan Kok Seong.
“We will leverage on our traditional niche in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lending to expand our commercial loans and trade finance activities, while continuing to exploit new and exciting opportunities in the capital market to grow our fee-based income,” he said.
Commercial lending currently forms between 50% and 60% of UOB's total loan base. About half of the bank's commercial loans come from SMEs and the rest from larger listed corporations.
Chan said UOB's loan base, which stood at RM14.1bn as at June 30, 2003, recorded “a double-digit growth” in 2003 compared with the previous year, significantly outpacing the industry's loans growth of 5.3%.
