The Singapore-based bank’s push to diversify revenue comes amid takeovers and investments in Asia by bigger domestic rival DBS Group Holdings Ltd. (DBS), including the bid for PT Bank Danamon Indonesia. (BDMN) Oversea-Chinese, which gets 85 percent of its pretax profit from Singapore and Malaysia, may also have to turn to acquisitions to compete across Asia, according to Desmond Ch’ng, a Kuala Lumpur-based analyst at Maybank Investment Bank Bhd.

“Operations are still small outside of Singapore and Malaysia,” he said. “Short of mergers and acquisitions, OCBC will have to expand its branches in China and Indonesia to compete with the local players who already have a wide network and a captive depositor base.”

China, Taiwan and Hong Kong accounted for 7 percent of the bank’s pretax profit last year, while Southeast Asia, excluding Singapore and Malaysia, made up for 4 percent, according to company data.

‘Increasing Contribution’

“There will be an increasing contribution on a proportionate basis” from the newer markets, said Tsien, 57, who has served as the bank’s global corporate banking chief since 2007 and takes the reins from Conner, who held the CEO post for a decade. Tsien has no plan to reduce the lender’s presence in its bigger markets, he said.

China and Indonesia are the two fastest-growing economies among the 10 biggest in Asia, based on data compiled by Bloomberg. China’s gross domestic product expanded 8.1 percent in the last quarter, even as the pace slowed to the least in almost three years, the statistics bureau said on April 13. The Indonesian economy grew 6.46 percent last year, the fastest since before the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Oversea-Chinese opened its first branch in China in 1925, and now operates 16 branches through its OCBC Bank China Ltd. subsidiary, according to the bank.

Bank of America

Shanghai-born Tsien spent 30 years with Bank of America Corp. and associated companies before moving to Oversea-Chinese in 2007. He held the position of president and chief executive officer of China Construction Bank (Asia) Corp., formerly known as Bank of America (Asia), for more than a decade before joining the Singapore lender.

In Indonesia, the bank owns an 85 percent stake in PT Bank OCBC NISP (NISP) valued at about 7.2 trillion rupiah ($790 million), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The subsidiary serves the country’s small- and medium-sized businesses and individuals.

DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest lender, offered to buy Jakarta-based Danamon for about $7.2 billion on April 2 in the biggest takeover by a lender in the region. It said last week it will invest 2.3 billion yuan ($365 million) in its Chinese unit, the first time since it invested 4 billion yuan when the subsidiary was set up five years ago.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sanat Vallikappen in Singapore at vallikappen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Gunsalus at jgunsalus@bloomberg.net

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-15/ocbc-s-new-ceo-aims-to-boost-china-indonesia-revenue.html

• U.S. Said to Seek More Than $10 Billion Penalty From BNP   (2014-05-30 09:35:40)
• Apple Agrees to Buy Beats Electronics for $3 Billion   (2014-05-29 09:42:30)
• JPMorgan’s Pinto Shuffles Deputies, Names Hernandez Unit Co-Head   (2014-04-08 08:55:29)
• JPMorgan Folds London Whale Office Into Another Unit   (2014-04-04 09:51:48)
• JPMorgan Folds London Whale Office Into Another Unit   (2014-04-04 09:51:29)
• JPMorgan Folds London Whale Office Into Another Unit   (2014-04-04 09:51:17)
• China Construction Bank Profit Beats Estimate on Margins   (2014-03-31 10:50:22)
• Madoff Aides Convicted in $17.5 Billion Ponzi Trial After Decades Working for Firm   (2014-03-25 13:24:38)
• Fed Revises Worst-Case Stress-Test Results for Biggest Banks   (2014-03-22 09:45:32)
• BofA, Citigroup, Credit Suisse Sued by FDIC Over Libor   (2014-03-15 10:32:09)