KUALA LUMPUR (July 23): CIMB Group Holdings Bhd expects the second half of 2015 to be challenging due to the difficult macroeconomic conditions in Thailand and Indonesia.

CIMB group (fundamental: 1.05; valuation: 2.25) chief executive Tengku Datuk Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the business in Malaysia will remain flat this year, while its banking business in Indonesia and Thailand will remain tough due to slower macroeconomic condition in Southeast Asia region.

"The challenges are bigger in Indonesia and Thailand for us," he told reporters at the CIMB Bumiputera Vendor Development Programme Launch ceremony today.

Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said the group is still looking for a suitable candidate internally and externally to replace Badlisyah Abdul Ghani who resigned as CEO of CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd earlier.

He said the management will have to make recommendations to the nomination committee by the end of August.

CIMB announced on July 14 the resignation of Badlisyah as CEO and member of the board of CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd, effective Aug 15.

His resignation came after his Facebook posting claiming that the banking documents released by The Wall Street Journal allegedly showing transactions of US$700 million (RM2.67 billion) of 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) funds into personal accounts of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak were false.

CIMB closed 5 sen or 0.9% lower at RM5.5 today, for a market capitalisation of RM46.78 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)