www.theborneopost.com - KUCHING: BIMB Holdings Bhd (BIMB) could potentially see significant
takaful contributions in the Indonesian takaful market its stake hold in
PT Takaful Indonesia (PT Takaful).
However, pending the outcome
of potential regulations by Indonesia’s central bank, the current
contributions from the country’s takaful segment would not be
significant for the time being.
Maybank Investment Bank Bhd
(Maybank IB) director of Equity Markets (Research) Desmond Ch’ng told
The Borneo Post that while there might be uncertainty surrounding BIMB’s
65 per cent owned Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd’s (STMB) shareholding
in PT Takaful, he did not expect this to immediately affect Maybank IB’s
earnings forecasts or valuations for BIMB. (full story)
“At this stage, PT
Takaful contributes to just three per cent of STMB’s earnings, which in
turn contributes to about 15 per cent of BIMB group’s pretax profit.
Consequently, we do not see Indonesia as a major contributor any time
soon.
“It is unclear at this stage as to whether Bank Indonesia’s
move to limit foreign shareholding would extend to insurance companies
as well as banks.
“The opportunity opens up from 2015 onwards when
it is expected that takaful products may only be sold by stand-alone
takaful companies, for which there are only three or four in Indonesia,
as opposed as through the takaful windows of conventional insurance
companies.
“There is, as such, scope for expansion in market share
for PT Takaful, should this ruling come into force,” he opined, adding
that such a scenario would level the playing field for STMB and allow it
to compete with foreign players effectively.
STMB currently holds
only a 59 per cent stake in PT Takaful, which in turn owns 57.24 per
cent of PT Asuransi Takaful Keluarga and 52.67 per cent of PT Asuransi
Takaful Umum.
Any paring down, as such, was unlikely to be
significant and growth over the next few years wouldbe driven by
domestic activities while ‘Indonesia really is the icing on the cake
over the longer term’, Ch’ng highlighted.
He pointed out that PT
Takaful’s other major shareholder is Jeddah-based Islamic Development
Bank with a 26.39 per cent stake and that STMB leveraged on Bank
Muamalat Indonesia’s (BMI) network for bankatakaful.
BMI’s
shareholders in turn are mainly foreign such as Islamic Development Bank
(32.7 per cent), Boubyan Bank of Kuwait (25 per cent) and Atwell
Holdings (17.9 per cent).
The concern was that changes in the
shareholding structure at BMI might affect the business relationship
between both parties in the future.
However, the consolation was
that BMI also held a six per cent in PT Takaful and could possibly
expand this stake if the other major shareholders were to pare down, in
his view.
Forecasting a profit before zakat and tax of RM579
million for 2012 for BIMB, he maintained the group’s target price of
RM2.95 per share using a sum of parts derivation method.
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