Maybank eyes 35% growth in retail SME financing

PETALING JAYA: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) expects financing to the retail small and medium enterprise (RSME) segment to grow by 35% this year, compared with about 27% recorded last year.
This will bring its total RSME loan portfolio to RM16.8 billion by end of 2017, it said in a statement yesterday.
Maybank head of community financial services (CFS) Malaysia Datuk Hamirullah Boorhan said the RSME segment was a key component of the CFS portfolio and had consistently been registering double digit growth over the last five years.
RSMEs, which typically comprise businesses with turnover of RM25 million and below, constitute some 97% of the overall SME segment.
Hamirullah said growth in the RSME segment this year is expected to come from business property-based loans, portfolio guarantee, trade finance, commercial cards, micro credit and SME deposits via the Maybank SME First Account and payroll accounts.
About 61% of the RSME financing last year comprised Islamic financing, with the balance under conventional loans.