(10 October 2005 – Malaysia) Maybank has denied persistent market rumours that it has Bank Islam in its sights, saying the idea of acquiring the bank was never “on the table”.Maybank chief executive Amirsham A Aziz said there were no plans to buy Bank Islam – at least for now.
Maybank is Malaysia’s largest lender and a major participant in Islamic banking.
Bank Islam, which is owned by BIMB Holdings, posted a net loss of US$121 million for the year to June 2005, due chiefly to large provisions for bad loans.
Bank Islam has reportedly been in discussions with investors from the Middle East who have declared an interest in taking a 49 percent stake in the bank.
Malaysia is currently suffering its worst inflation for more than six years because of high oil prices.