HWANG-DBS (M) Bhd yesterday dismissed media reports of a merger scheme with Alliance Financial Group Bhd (AFG).
"This is speculative and we have nothing to comment.
"So far the board has not deliberated on the possibility of any merger and we will take market conditions as a cue," its director Eric Ang told Business Times after Hwang-DBS' annual shareholders meeting at Hotel Equatorial.
Also present was director Alex Hwang Lip Teik.
When asked to comment on reports if banking giant DBS Group Holdings Ltd was a key player in merger talks, Ang who is also the managing director and head of capital markets group for DBS Bank of Singapore said: "The current state of our partnership is already working very well." He did not elaborate.
DBS Bank owns 28 per cent of Penang-based Hwang-DBS, which has a market capitalisation of RM595 million and is involved in stockbroking, wholesale banking and consumer finance.
For its 2011 fiscal year ended July 31, Hwang-DBS' net profit rose 42 per cent to RM91.46 million. This compares with RM64.4 million the year before. Revenue came in at RM399.3 million against RM346.9 million previously.
Meanwhile, Hwang-DBS is upgrading its Internet trading system infrastructure to take advantage of the increasing growth rate of Malaysia's Internet-banking platform.
"We are looking at an initial investment outlay of between RM1 million and RM2 million and we hope to implement our new Internet trading strategies by next year," he added.
"This is speculative and we have nothing to comment.
"So far the board has not deliberated on the possibility of any merger and we will take market conditions as a cue," its director Eric Ang told Business Times after Hwang-DBS' annual shareholders meeting at Hotel Equatorial.
Also present was director Alex Hwang Lip Teik.
When asked to comment on reports if banking giant DBS Group Holdings Ltd was a key player in merger talks, Ang who is also the managing director and head of capital markets group for DBS Bank of Singapore said: "The current state of our partnership is already working very well." He did not elaborate.
DBS Bank owns 28 per cent of Penang-based Hwang-DBS, which has a market capitalisation of RM595 million and is involved in stockbroking, wholesale banking and consumer finance.
For its 2011 fiscal year ended July 31, Hwang-DBS' net profit rose 42 per cent to RM91.46 million. This compares with RM64.4 million the year before. Revenue came in at RM399.3 million against RM346.9 million previously.
Meanwhile, Hwang-DBS is upgrading its Internet trading system infrastructure to take advantage of the increasing growth rate of Malaysia's Internet-banking platform.
"We are looking at an initial investment outlay of between RM1 million and RM2 million and we hope to implement our new Internet trading strategies by next year," he added.
