GE to expand
(7 February 2010 – Australia) Skander Malcolm, local chief executive of GE Capital is planning to extend the group’s Australian Finance operations, as the bigger banks take a tougher stance on lending to SMEs.
However, the US-owned finance house has no plans to become a 'fifth pillar' of the Australian financial world, Mr Malcolm added.
'We will be continuing to grow our consumer business,' Malcolm told The Australian newspaper.
"But a lot of the upside will be on the commercial side. We have no intention of being the 'fifth pillar' . . . but we intend to be the best in the categories we are in," Mr Malcolm added.
GE Capital sold the Wizard brand name for A$26m to Aussie Home Loans in December 2008 and has been running down its Australian mortgage book.
But it has a growing business in credit cards (about 2.2 million cards issued through retailers such as Myer, Coles and Harvey Norman) and a personal-loan business that grew by 11 percent in terms of assets over the past year.
Mr Malcolm is also looking to expand in the mid-level corporate finance business as well as lending for car fleets, distribution businesses, and agricultural and mining equipment.
In the past year, Malcolm has re-signed GE's financing deal with Harvey Norman, from which he expects total loans of more than A$10 billion over the next five years.
GE has signalled also its interest in private-equity investment in Australia, participating in last year's $2.7bn buyout of private healthcare operator Healthscope by TPG and the Carlyle Group.
Malcolm says GE Capital issued more than $1bn in corporate finance last year, a 50 percent growth on the previous year, but plans to increase this.
'I would like to see it substantially higher than it is right now,' he says.
He says GE is also prepared to resume acquisitions in Australia in the financial area.
'We can be substantially bigger . . . and there are other opportunities which are still very much on the drawing board,' he says.
'There are a lot of things happening here. The momentum is absolutely back.'
'We will be continuing to grow our consumer business,' Malcolm told The Australian newspaper.
"But a lot of the upside will be on the commercial side. We have no intention of being the 'fifth pillar' . . . but we intend to be the best in the categories we are in," Mr Malcolm added.
GE Capital sold the Wizard brand name for A$26m to Aussie Home Loans in December 2008 and has been running down its Australian mortgage book.
But it has a growing business in credit cards (about 2.2 million cards issued through retailers such as Myer, Coles and Harvey Norman) and a personal-loan business that grew by 11 percent in terms of assets over the past year.
Mr Malcolm is also looking to expand in the mid-level corporate finance business as well as lending for car fleets, distribution businesses, and agricultural and mining equipment.
In the past year, Malcolm has re-signed GE's financing deal with Harvey Norman, from which he expects total loans of more than A$10 billion over the next five years.
GE has signalled also its interest in private-equity investment in Australia, participating in last year's $2.7bn buyout of private healthcare operator Healthscope by TPG and the Carlyle Group.
Malcolm says GE Capital issued more than $1bn in corporate finance last year, a 50 percent growth on the previous year, but plans to increase this.
'I would like to see it substantially higher than it is right now,' he says.
He says GE is also prepared to resume acquisitions in Australia in the financial area.
'We can be substantially bigger . . . and there are other opportunities which are still very much on the drawing board,' he says.
'There are a lot of things happening here. The momentum is absolutely back.'
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