MBSB-Bank Muamalat merger raises ‘asset quality’ concerns - Affin Hwang

Malaysia Building Society's (MBSB) planned merger with Bank Muamalat Malaysia is expected to create a financial services entity with a collective asset size of some RM60 billion. Affin Hwang Investment Bankwrote in a note today that MBSB and Bank Muamalat's assets were valued at RM41 billion and RM22 billion respectively. Nevertheless, there could be potential write-offs of the loan book subsequent to due diligence exercises, which is likely to follow suit. However, Affin Hwang also said they were not too optimistic about the merger, as previously there have been other merger discussions between Bank Muamalat and other parties that were unsuccessful.