KUALA LUMPUR: Affin Bank Bhd sees a positive development towards realising the aspirations of its A25 strategic plan following the sale of a 4.95% stake in the bank by the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) to the State Financial Secretary Sarawak.
Affin Bank president and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Razly Abdullah said the bank regarded the Sarawak government’s purchase of a stake in the bank as a positive endorsement of its transformation plan.
“We are not sure about Sarawak’s game plan but we take this as a positive endorsement of Affin’s transformation plan that now we have investors like Sarawak state buying Affin Bank shares.
“So, I think they see a positive outcome of Affin Bank’s transformation going forward,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Fifth Malaysian Banking and Finance Summit 2023 yesterday.
On April 13, 2023, Affin Bank confirmed that LTAT had divested 112.56 million shares in the bank to the State Financial Secretary Sarawak for RM221.74mil via a direct business transaction. LTAT sold the shares, representing 4.95% of the total issued shares in Affin Bank, for a cash consideration of RM1.97 per share.
Meanwhile, Wan Razly said Malaysia’s banking system remains resilient as the country is isolated from the global environment.
“In some ways, we are isolated from the global environment. We don’t have exposure to the United States market or to European banks.
“However, whatever happens in Europe or the United States will also spill over into Asia in some form. I think we adopt a very cautious outlook and we want to be guarded against any crisis or concerns that may come out of the United States and European crises,” he said.
He added that Bank Negara is very stable in terms of its approach in managing the overnight policy rate to ensure that banks have sustainable growth. — Bernama
