KUALA LUMPUR: Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd
has assured investors that it is well-positioned to grow independently and organically, while denying knowledge of any potential merger and acquisition (M&A) exercise.
Its chief executive officer Kellee Kam made the comment amid speculation that Singapore’s largest bank, DBS Bank Ltd, is trying to acquire a major stake in Alliance Bank.
“I think at the present, we are happy to progress on a standalone basis.
“If you take a look at our performance over the last few years, we’ve been hitting record numbers every year.
“This clearly shows that we are positioned to progress as a standalone,” he told StarBiz after the launch of Alliance Bank’s new headquarters yesterday.
Last Saturday, StarBiz 7 had reported that DBS’ planned entry into Alliance Bank may be facing a challenge to secure approvals from the authorities.
Recall that DBS is said to be interested in acquiring the 29.06% stake held by Vertical Theme Sdn Bhd in Alliance Bank.
Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, which is also DBS’ largest shareholder, owns 49% of Vertical Theme.
The remaining 51% belongs to Langkah Bahagia Sdn Bhd, a private company owned by three Malaysians – hotel and property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, RRJ Capital founder Ong Tiong Sing and corporate adviser Seow Lun Hoo.
However, sources said that DBS had so far only secured approval to acquire Temasek’s indirect stake in Alliance Bank, amounting to an effective ownership of 14.24%.
According to sources, the Malaysian authorities have indicated that the stakes of the three Malaysian individuals in Langkah Bahagia can only be sold to a local party.
On M&A, Kam told reporters that the bank is unaware of any such activity.
“As we always say, I think at the bank, we are actually not privy to anything that’s happening at the shareholder level,” Kam said.
From a performance standpoint, Kam said Alliance Bank’s strong earnings in the first half ended Sept 30, 2025 has placed the bank on track for another record year.
“Our topline grew at double digits, over 10%. And profit itself was over 10% higher than the previous year.
“So, I think there is a fair bit of operational momentum. We are confident that we will continue to see resilient growth for the group,” he told StarBiz.
Alliance Bank’s second quarter for financial year 2026 (2Q26) results marked a three-year high, as net profit rose 9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM207mil, supported by stronger income and lower bad debt provisions.
Kam also said the bank is keeping its guidance for loan growth at between 8% and 10%, while maintaining a return on equity or ROE target above 10%, post-rights issue last year.
“We have kept our guidance. From an overall industry perspective, we have seen asset quality for the industry as a whole remain very stable,” he said.
Market optimism surrounding its outlook has been favourable to its stock.
On Jan 14, the bank’s shares had touched a record-high of RM5.53 per share.
“The stock has since pared some gains amid profit-taking, closing at RM5.33 yesterday with a market capitalisation of RM9.2bil.
“We have raised some new capital, approximately RM600mil (via rights issue). The good thing here is the stock has recovered from the dilution, from the new shares.
“The large part of it is obviously driven from an overall economy standpoint, which improved significantly,” Kam elaborated.
Looking ahead, Kam said Alliance Bank’s five-year strategic plan “Acceler8” will continue to drive growth.
“When we first came up with Acceler8, we saw market opportunities and unrealised potential to tap into.
“So, we launched Acceler8 across eight pillars of growth, and y-o-y, we continued to deliver on those growth numbers,” he said.
The relocation of its headquarters to the new building along Jalan Ampang will further contribute to achieving its Acceler8 goals.
According to Kam, this is a representation of the difference in ambition, in scale, and also having its teams under one roof.
“Having your own building to house the headquarters was what we believe will establish Alliance Bank as a credible competitor in Malaysia,” he explained.
Yesterday, Alliance Bank celebrated the opening of its first owned headquarters at Menara Alliance Bank since its inception.
“It is designed to be a unified and collaborative space where Team Alliance can work seamlessly across functions, spark new ideas and deliver better outcomes for our customers,” Kam said in a statement to fellow guests and the media.
With approximately 2,000 employees now operating from a single integrated headquarters, the bank is better positioned to deliver faster decisions, deeper collaboration, and more holistic financial solutions.
