KUALA LUMPUR (April 20): Affin Holdings Bhd aims to balance the loan portfolio of its retail banking division by making its corporate and consumer segments contribute half each to the segment's revenue in the next three years, said its recently-appointed managing director and chief executive officer Kamarul Ariffin Mohd Jamil.

"This is part of our prudent strategies to achieve business growth. At present, some 40% of our portfolio comes from the retail (consumer) segment and 60% in the corporate segment respectively," he told reporters, after the group's 39th annual general meeting here today.

On plans to go regional, Affin's deputy chairman Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin said Affin has not abandoned its plan to enter the regional market, as it is prioritising on growth areas in its subsidiaries.

"We have not given up on our interest to expand regionally, be it Asean or Indonesia. At the moment, we are unlocking the synergy in our investment bank first, as well as our other subsidiaries," Lodin added.

In May last year, Affin aborted the plan to acquire up to 24% stake in Indonesia's PT Bank Panin Syariah Tbk, as the latter began discussion with Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC.

This year, Kamarul said Affin aims to achieve a return on equity of 8%, return on assets (0.9%), gross impaired loan ratio (1.64%) and earnings per share (33 sen).