Maybank mulls closing inactive branches

Maybank Kim Eng Securities Thailand Plc (MBKET) is considering shuttering inactive branches and turning some into digital branches in an effort to regain an 8% market share this year.

The company is contemplating closing some branches with less trading transaction volumes and relocate some market officers from headquarters and other branches to replace those who resigned from busy branches in the central business district said MBKET chief executive Montree Sornpaisarn.

MBKET has 60 branches across the country.

According to Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) data, MBKET managed to maintain its top position in the segment despite market share falling to 6.94% in terms of trading value on both the SET and the Market for Alternative Investment over the past three months from 8.15% last year.

The decline in market share has been seen after the departure of its former cochief executive Boonporn Boriboonsongsil and more than 200 marketing officials, who moved to Yuanta Securities late last year.

“We are still targeting 8% market share this year, so we will use other tools to such as fintech innovations to provide trading information, more stock research and innovations to attract investors,” Mr Montree said.

MBKET at the moment provides research distribution via Line application for investors to access trading information conveniently.

“For inactive branches, we don’t see any reason to keep them open as we have to shoulder operating costs, so we will adopt innovative technology for some branches to catch up with the digital trend,” he said.

The stock broker has around 600 marketing officers dubbed investment consultants, which is enough to take care of investors, said Mr Montree.

“The case between us and our former chief executive is under trial, so we cannot talk much about it. However, we will try to mediate and find a solution together,” he said.

Meanwhile, Yuanta Securities released a statement saying that the company did not poach marketing staff from MBKET and it will countersue MBKET as such allegations affect Yuanta Securities’ image.

MBKET’s claim that Yuanta poached 205 market officers that caused 261 trading accounts to move to Yuanta is not true, the statement said, adding that staff and investors moved to Yuanta as they are confident of the company’s business model.

The Taiwanese parent firm will inject fresh funds to Yuanta, which will recapitalise to 4.5 billion baht from 1.5 billion this month.

Brokerage remains the company’s core income at around 70-80%, but the company plans to diversify into other businesses, Mr Montree said.

However, MBKET will not operate in proprietary trading to prevent conflicts of interest.

“We are listed firms, so we have a duty to increase returns on assets. We have to seek other related business that can generate more income in the future, we will open new business units in the next few months,” said Mr Montree.

MBKET shares closed yesterday on the SET at 22 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 1.2 million baht yesterday.