HSBC Amanah expects 60% revenue growth

HSBC's global Islamic financial services arm said on Monday it expects revenue to grow by at least 60% over the next few years, led by business in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.

"We have been growing at 60, 70% plus, CAGR (compound annual growth rate), over the last three years, and we fundamentally don't see that slowing anytime soon," Asif Mumtaz, Middle East head of HSBC Amanah, told newswire Reuters in Dubai.

Nearly all new consumer finance business at Amanah's Saudi affiliate, SABB, is Sharia-compliant, he added.

"In three to five years, it may be not too far away for the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well," Mumtaz said. Saudi Arabia, where it owns 40% of SABB, is HSBC's largest Islamic finance market, he added.

In Malaysia, where about 55% of the country's 27 million people are Muslim, HSBC wants to use its license to expand its Islamic financial services, especially for individuals, Mumtaz said.

"The Islamic finance industry is going to be huge in the next five to 10 years," he said.

Islamic insurance services, or takaful, will grow particularly quickly as the industry is underdeveloped, Mumtaz said.

Revenue from institutional business, such as arranging the sale of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, is also growing, he added.

HSBC Amanah said on Tuesday it has been named Best International Islamic Bank at an awards ceremony for the Islamic finance industry.......Continue