AGROBANK REGISTERS 15 PCT BUSINESS GROWTH FROM JAN-OCT 2016

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SEBERANG JAYA, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- Agrobank has recorded a 15 per cent business growth in the first 10 months of this year with total financing value of RM8.5 billion.

President/Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Wan Mohd Fadzmi Wan Othman, said the bank was committed to providing excellent services to its customers and this was demonstrated its commendable performance.

He said the growth was driven by the agrofood segment which was underpinned by the demand for food and the whole value chain in the industry.

"This is an impressive achievement, particularly in the current global economic environment, as we've surpassed the 13 per cent growth achieve in the same period last year. We will continue to expand our market penetration in the agriculture sector," he said.

He told reporters this on the sidelines of an information-sharing programme on the prospects and opportunities in the agriculture sector hosted by Agrobank here, today.

However, Wan Mohd Fadzmi said despite the challenging market environment, the bank still aimed to achieve about 12 to 15 per cent business growth for 2017.

"The demand for agricultural products including the food segment is still there and is expected to grow further," he said.

He said Agrobank's performance in the northern region -- Penang, Kedah and Perlis, had contributed significantly to the bank's total financing value.

"In the deposit segment, the northern region consisting of Penang, Kedah and Perlis, has achieved growth in total deposits to RM850.91 million from January-September 2016 compared to RM793.95 million recorded in the same period of last year," he said.

Wan Mohd Fadzmi also said the bank currently has some 435 AgroAgents made up mostly by area farmers organisations, fishermen associations and Agrobazaar people's stores to provide better banking services in the rural areas.

"We are targeting to open another 300 AgroAgent outlets nationwide to ensure that our basic banking services are made available to rural communities as soon as possible.

"Our goal is to make AgroAgent as the effective banking solution to tackle the difficulties faced by those in rural areas seeking financial institution facility," he said. The bank, which is under the purview of the Minister of Finance Incorporated, has 187 branches nationwide offering products and services in the areas of corporate, commercial and micro financing, as well as trade finance, personal financing, electronic banking and deposit and services.

--BERNAMA

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