Canadia set to grow following strong half

via Khmer NZ

Tuesday, 10 August 2010 15:00 Nguon Sovan

CANADIA Bank Plc, the Kingdom’s third-largest bank by assets, reported total deposits and loans grew 23 percent and 15 percent respectively in the first half of the year.

The bank’s six-month data recorded customers’ deposits rose to US$682 million at the end of June from $555 million at December 31, while outstanding loans reached $442 million from $385 million.

“The strong growth we have seen in deposits reflects the public trust in us,” Dieter Billmeier, the bank’s vice president, said yesterday.

“The lending growth is in line with our predictions with increasing trends in the service, mortgage, wholesale and retail, as well as import and export sectors.”

He said the bank, which already has 28 branches nationwide, would look to open another five branches this year.

“We will continue to expand domestic branch network to explore growing possibilities to widen our customer deposit and borrower base,” he said.

Canadia, wholly owned by Cambodian shareholders, has also seen solid growth in total assets in the first six months, Billmeier said, coming close to $900 million at June 30 – about 20 percent higher than December last year – while the bank’s total capital base had grown to above $120 million by June.

Though he declined to disclose the bank’s profit for the first half, he said it was “slightly higher” than it was last year.

According to figures released by the National Bank of Cambodia in July, the Kingdom’s commercial bank deposits totalled $3.795 billion at the end of June, up 15 percent over December last year, and outstanding loans increased 9.8 percent to $2.74 billion at the end of June.