EON Bank aims to lead mid-size pack

By Sharen Kaur (Published in NST on October 2009)

EON Bank Bhd's new chief says he plans to turn the country's seventh biggest lender by assets into a leader among its medium-sized banks.

Group chief executive officer (CEO) Michael Lor Chee Leng said he wants to grow hire purchase loans, home loans and loans to small- and medium-scale enterprises.

Lor told Business Times in an e-mail interview that he will also refine the group's investment banking offerings and make use of its treasury for additional sources of income.

"We recognise that we are a local bank in our origins and presence. But we will be one that offers Malaysians world-class services and products," he said.

Lor, who was previously EON Bank's head of group consumer banking, was promoted to the post of group CEO, filling the vacancy left by his predecessor Albert Lau Yiong, who retired earlier this year.

Lor joined EON Bank in February last year and was responsible for growing its consumer banking business.

He said EON Bank's consumer banking division could grow by 8 per cent this year, contributing around 5 per cent to a group-wide growth rate.

"We consider this quite positive given how the overall economy has been performing," Lor said.

The lender also has "healthy control" of non-performing loans (NPL).
"We continue to close the gap with the industry with our gross NPL ratio dropping to 4.5 per cent. The net NPL ratio now stands at 2.7 per cent and we have raised our loan loss coverage to over 80 per cent," he
said.

Lor, who has more than 20 years experience in the banking industry across Asean, was a worldwide director of banking solutions with Hewlett-Packard Asia-Pacific's financial service industry segment.

Prior to that, he was the executive vice-president and head of consumer banking at RHB Bank.

When asked if he would use the same strategies as his predecessor, Lor said there would be a few changes.

"I won't necessarily say I will have a different strategy compared to Lau. I think we should complete the few things we started, such as our Project Quantum Leap, and other transformation initiatives as a lot of good will come out of that.

"There are a few things that will be different. Some changes might come from my working style and personality. Other initiatives will be those that will seek to build on the progress and success we have already enjoyed thus far," Lor said.

What is important is that the bank focuses on its target customers first before it can consider grand ambitions, he added.

On plans to give EON Bank a new name to better reflect its aspiration, Lor said such a move was still pending.

"This requires approval from regulators. However, I can say that any rebranding effort must be complete from the inside out. A change of identity will be effective only if our internal personnel, products and processes can deliver on any brand promise.

"For us, a new identity will be the icing on the cake that has already been baked to perfection," he said.