In an interview with The Post, Phillip Bank’s General Manager Han Peng Kwang spoke about the bank’s stellar performance this year and its nationwide expansion plans.

How is the outlook for corporate earnings of Phillip Bank in Cambodia in the first half of this year?

The financial results of Phillip Bank for the first five months of this year improved remarkably compared to the same period in 2018. Our Net Profit Before Tax increased by over 80 per cent from January to May 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.

Reasons for the significant changes to the earnings were because of the continuous economic growth in the country that resulted in more customers requesting for loans to expand their businesses. There are also an increase in personal consumption lending due to the growing need of the middle class population.

To meet the growing demand from the middle class market, Phillip Bank has expanded our Retail Banking business by introducing Personal Loan product which is a loan given on a clean basis, without requiring any collateral or guarantor with fast approval and disbursement.

To support more utilisation of riel, we also offer a lower interest if applicant take the loan in riel compared to USD i.e. 15 per cent p.a. in riel and 16 per cent p.a. in USD.

We have also launched our Car Loan Promotion recently with a promotional interest rate at 9 per cent p.a. and repayment period up to eight years plus free comprehensive insurance.

What are the main sectors that would see improved earnings, for example banking, construction, food and beverage, gaming or garment sector?

We opined that all the sectors mentioned above will see improved earnings if the economy of the country continue to grow as estimated at 7 per cent and barring the three economic risks as mentioned earlier.

What is the earnings forecast for the second half of the year?

We opined that the economy will retain robust for the rest of the year. For Phillip Bank, we projected that our earnings will increase significantly in the second half of the year. This is because we will merge with Kredit MFI, one of the largest MDIs in Cambodia in the second half of the year.

Upon the completion of the merger, Phillip Bank branch network will increase from the current six branches in Phnom Penh City to 89 branches covering almost all the provinces. We will become the third largest bank in Cambodia in term of branch network.

How are Cambodian-owned businesses performing this year?

Almost all our clients who take loan from us for their businesses expansion or working capital are Cambodian businessmen and businesswomen.

Our data on the Non-Performing Loan rate of all our clients combined is less than 1 per cent of our total loan portfolio. This shows that their businesses are performing well to date.

At the same time, we continue to receive new applications for business loans from both new or existing businessmen and women to expand their business or to venture into new businesses reflecting the confidence of the business people in the stability and the bright prospect of the economy in this country.