ANZ to remain in local market?
The chief executive of ANZ Royal Bank has denied media reports that the Australian and New Zealand Bank Group is considering pulling the plug on its Cambodian operations amid a planned retreat from the region’s markets. In a filing to the Australian Stock Exchange on October 31, ANZ announced that it was selling its wealth and retail operations in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Indonesia to the Singaporean-based DBS Group for about $80 million, taking a loss of nearly $250 million in the process. It said the move was aimed at scaling back Asian operations to focus on institutional banking, while shoring up its primary asset base in Australia and New Zealand. Leonie Lethbridge, CEO of ANZ Royal – a joint venture between ANZ and Kith Meng’s Royal Group – confirmed the sale, but insisted that it would not affect ANZ’s Cambodian operations. “This transaction did not include ANZ Royal’s retail and wealth business in Cambodia, as it did not form part of ANZ’s strategic review,” she said. “It is business as usual for ANZ Royal.” She declined, however, to comment on long-running rumours that ANZ has been looking for a way to exit its investment in Cambodia.
