2010-09-28 10:19

SINGAPORE - Southeast Asia's biggest bank DBS Group Holdings Ltd plans to draw up to 10 percent of its revenue from the Chinese mainland within ten years, an increase from the current 3 percent.

The lender aims to expand its footprint in the country by having 50 points of presence in three to four years from 16 points in eight cities currently, subject to regulatory approval, said Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS Group Holdings, on Monday.

"Our aspiration is to climb our presence in China exponentially," Gupta said at a press briefing to celebrate the opening of the DBS Asia Hub held on Sunday in Singapore.

Gupta said the Singapore-based lender is planning to invest about as high as 10 percent of its total group investment worth 1.5 billion Singapore dollars ($1.13 billion) in the next 10 years in the Chinese mainland, aiming to keep pace with the increasing size of the market.

"We're very serious about our intention to roll out our presence in the Chinese mainland. What's important is to increase our branches and business bases in it," DBS Group Holdings chairman Peter Seah said.

DBS posted a record-high net profit of 718 million Singapore dollars in the April-June period, if the goodwill impairment charge of 1.02 billion Singapore dollars for its Hong Kong business was excluded.

The once Singapore-focused lender is eager to trim its revenue proportion of about 70 percent made in Singapore to 40 percent in the next five years, and has made moves to grow its business abroad, particularly in China, Gupta said.

On Sept 23, the bank said it plans to invest S$250 million ($189 million) to ramp up its treasury and market business over the next five years, especially in China, on the back of the increasing internationalization of the Chinese currency.

"DBS is focused on leveraging its Greater China franchise to build a strong renminbi business spanning foreign exchange, bonds, structure products and hedging solutions," the bank said in a written announcement.

It was one of the first few banks to offer yuan-structured deposits in Hong Kong in September.

In terms of issuing the yuan-denominated bonds, Gupta said on Monday that the issuance of bond is a function of liquidity position, in which DBS has made good progress from its consumer deposits, particularly in the course of this year.

"Our liquidity is very sound, therefore, whether to issue (yuan-denominated) bond is really driven by the economics," Gupta said.

Seah said DBS has yet to plan to list in the international board for foreign firms in Shanghai, when rivals such as HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered Bank have already expressed their willingness for listing.