CFO Lee says: “The Thai corporate is in manufacturing; unfortunately, it is an account that was beset by fraud, and we decided to take the prudent stand to make a provision. In fact, we’ve fully provided for it. If there is any recovery, that would be an upside to us. So it doesn’t affect our balance sheet and our results going forward.”
The local banks, in particular United Overseas Bank (UOB), are proxies to regional growth, opportunities and challenges. The message UOB’s group CEO Wee Ee Cheong and group CFO Lee Wai Fai delivered on July 27 reflected the strength of its regional franchise, but also its challenges.
In sum, its earnings numbers were boosted by its group retail segment, which benefitted from the Citigroup (Citi) acquisition. On the other hand, UOB has to navigate and manage the foibles of Asean corporates. It reported a specific provision of around $174 million in 1HFY2023 ended June for Thailand, which is related to a company in the manufacturing sector that is under investigation.
