Yue Xiu may beef up Chong Hing Bank after acquisition
Guangzhou-backed investment vehicle sees room for growth with Chong Hing Bank
Yue Xiu, the investment vehicle backed by the Guangzhou government, said it has no plans to privatise Chong Hing Bank and has signalled it may inject more capital into the newly acquired lender.
A Hong Kong listing could help Chong Hing expand its capital, said Zhang Zhaoxing, who is chairman of both Chong Hing and Yue Xiu.
The lender planned to upgrade offices and open more branches on the mainland so it could post better growth in the medium term and boost revenues, said Margaret Leung Ko May-yee, the deputy chairman and managing director of the bank.
"There's room for Chong Hing to be more aggressive in Hong Kong," said the newly appointed Leung, adding that wealth management and mortgages were the businesses with potential strong revenue growth.
Leung, who retired as chief executive of HSBC's subsidiary Hang Seng Bank in 2012 and who started working in Chong Hing at age 61, added: "In the future, there must be growing linkage with China. To me it is a new challenge."
Jack Chan, a managing partner of financial services at EY Greater China, said there were some challenges the company would face. "Yue Xiu has to rely on local expertise as it does not have the experience in the banking sector in Hong Kong," he said