Malaysia has gained prominence as a regional treasury centre in Asia, with lower costs and robust infrastructure. Citi has been in Malaysia for close to 65 years and has 4,000 employees there. The US bank offers a broad range of products and has an enviable global reach, with a physical presence in 95 countries.
Total net income for Malaysia grew 50% year on year, in 2022 to RM1.2 billion ($259 million), while profit before tax jumped 63% to RM991 million. Both return on equity and return on average assets improved to 19.6% and 2.7% respectively, from 11.7% and 1.5%.
One area of strength is corporate banking, and Citi is the bank of choice for many large Malaysian corporations. Its importance has grown in the past year as firms look for ways to bounce back from the Covid crisis.
Citi, whose new Malaysia chief executive Vikram Singh took charge in May this year, has bolstered its focus on small and medium-sized enterprises as well as mid-market companies in Malaysia and sees these clients as its next big growth opportunity.
Citi acted as placement agent on a RM750 million private placement for an undisclosed Malaysian e-wallet and fintech company in July 2022 and was also sole financial adviser for Liberty Insurance’s RM2.3