KATM eyes co-op bank licence by mid-2014

PETALING JAYA (July 16, 2013): Koperasi Angkatan Tentera Malaysia Bhd (KATM), which plans to become a cooperative bank by January 2015, is planning to secure the necessary licence from the regulators by the middle of next year, its CEO Gen (R) Datuk Ahmad Zahudi Salleh said.

Source from (The Sun Daily): http://www.thesundaily.my/news/770957
Published: July 16, 2013



The country's armed forces multipurpose cooperative will submit its application for the cooperative banking licence to Bank Negara Malaysia before the end of this year.

"We are halfway there. We are targeting to secure the licence at least by the middle of next year and then have six months of preparations before we start operations as a full-fledged cooperative bank," Ahmad Zahudi told SunBiz in an interview.

"The proposal is almost ready and we will apply soon if not before the end of this year."

KATM expects to spend up to RM100 million in the next three years to set up the cooperative bank, which would more than double its workforce to about 600.

KATM's total fees and share capital stood at RM915.8 million as at Dec 31, 2012, surpassing the minimum capital requirement of RM300 million to be a cooperative bank.

"We have surpassed that minimum capital requirement a long time back. Our shareholders' fund was RM1.2 billion as at December 2012," said Ahmad Zahudi.

KATM has been planning to upgrade itself into a cooperative bank since last year and has since implemented a transformation plan towards the 2015 target.

"The plan involves five modules and will take between 20 months and 30 months to be completed. We expect the plan to be completed in July next year.

"From this transformation project, we are aiming to increase our total assets to RM13 billion by 2020. Out of this amount, up to RM8 billion or two-thirds will be generated from non-members business activities," said Ahmad Zahudi.

KATM membership is open to all members of the Malaysian Armed Forces and all civil servants in the Ministry of Defence.

Total membership as at December 2012 was about 147,440.

"Our target to become a cooperative bank, while maintaining KATM's exclusivity to our members, by 2015 is also a strategy to bring KATM to a higher level and for the long term benefits of our members," said Ahmad Zahudi.

Last year, the military cooperative's total assets stood at RM2.38 billion, and recorded an operating profit of RM282.88 million.

KATM has consistently paid dividend of 12% since 1996. In 2011, the army cooperative paid a record dividend of 14% and replicated that feat last year as well for a total payment in excess of RM119 million.

In 2012, KATM recorded a record pre-tax profit of RM249.09 million, up 18.6% from 2011. Its major revenue contributors are from financing, insurance and investment.