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Posted: 29 Mar 2013 06:13 PM PDT

PETALING JAYA: In an announcement that caught the market by surprise, Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) says its group managing director and chief executive officer, Datuk Yvonne Chia (pic), will be retiring effective June 30, after a decade at the helm.

The bank said in a press release that a successor would be announced in due course, subject to approval by Bank Negara.

In the statement, Chia, 60, said she truly believed that HLB was the "finest bank in the region."

"It has been a privilege to lead this wonderful organisation through both the best and challenging times for our industry. Our success is owed to the resilience and quality of our management team and the stewardship of our chairman and board of directors.

"Hong Leong Bank has always remained profitable, paid steady dividends and maintained the highest standards while consistently investing in better ways to serve our customers, including adopting new online and mobile banking technology," she said.

She added that "with the bank having emerged to a strong and prosperous future, it is now a good time to exit and pursue the next chapter of my life."

Analysts said they were surprised by the Chia's decision to retire. "It is definitely a surprise as Chia is essentially the face of Hong Leong," an analyst said.

Another analyst concurred that the move came as a surprise, though added that the bank would be in good hands after Chia left.

"A big organisation like HLB will certainly have its own succession planning strategies in place and certainly has already a worthy successor in mind," she said.

In addition to her leadership at HLB, Chia also served as a director of Hong Leong Financial Group, HLB and Hong Leong Islamic Bank Bhd, as well as chairman of the AFC Merchant Bank Ltd, a regional merchant bank owned by banks and financial institutions from Asean.

She is a council member of the Association of Banks Malaysia, Institute of Banks and also a director of MEPS, an industry payment network and ATM systems.

Chia will probably be best known for her determination in integrating HLB with EON Bank Bhd in 2011, a RM5.06bil deal that took some 15 months to be concluded.

Hong Leong Financial Group president Raymond Choong said in a statement that the bank's board of directors "are truly appreciative" of Chia's leadership with the organisation for more than 10 years.

"Datuk Yvonne has led the transformation and growth of HLB into one of the most successful banks in the financial industry.

"She has guided HLB through an incredible period of change and growth and has done so with utmost integrity and a sharp focus on creating value for our customers, shareholders and employees.

"Shareholder loyalty and employee commitment have remained solid, and we have achieved prudent growth. I want to express the gratitude of our board of directors and shareholders for Datuk Yvonne's role in these achievements, and wish her great success as she embarks on a new phase in her life," he said.

What keeps Sogo on the go

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 05:49 PM PDT

FOR this week's Power Lunch interview we had the opportunity to catch up with Andrew Lim, managing director of Sogo (KL) Sdn Bhd, at the Sogo Siang Seafood restaurant.

Upon introduction and query as to my background, Lim informed me that we have a shared a similar background. We were both from Penang, reading law and working with newspapers, although not quite sharing the rapid pace in rank promotion.

"I was a cub reporter in 1977 with The Straits Echo. I became a reporter and was promoted to sub-editor. I was there for a year, then I went to the UK to continue my studies in Law (Cardiff University). I was an English Literature student at Penang Free School. I was in the Middle Temple and got my barrister-ship way back in 1981. I didn't even have money to stay on. The call was in July, so I couldn't afford the three months. So, I was an absent chair. I've been practising for 25 years in Penang. My father and sister are barristers. We have 13 lawyers in the whole extended family," Lim informs me before explaining how his involvement with Sogo started.

Sogo was originally fully owned by Sogo Japan. Lim was previously their legal advisor and a board member of Sogo KL. In 2002 Lim initiated the management buyout and Sogo is today 100% Malaysian owned and operated, but with a franchise agreement with Sogo Japan to allow the continual usage of the Sogo name.

100% Malaysian

He tells me that the agreement was structured in such a way that they have full control over the management of the store and since then, they have adapted it to fit the needs of their Malaysian customer base.

"This is not McDonald's where you can have uniformed standardisation. We have a mass of products and customers here and each customer has his or her individual need and requirements. We incorporated the best of what they have in Japan and adapted to what the customers wish for in Malaysia."

For a brief run-through of their story, Lim shares how Sogo was previously focused on international luxury brand goods. From 2002, it has focused on high-end Malaysian labels but an emphasis on maintaining a 5-star ambience.

He says all the Malaysian brand names have worked closely with Sogo. He, however, prefers to view this not just as a supplier-client relationship but rather a partnership as he says the relationship with the brand owners has spanned over a decade.

"Malaysia MODA started in KL Sogo. In those days, the 7th floor had an allocated space for all the young designers of Malaysia to design clothes. Carven Ong was one of them. It's was like a little boutique environment for them to conduct their business," he says, showing pride in our home-grown designers.

He tells me that if I were to look into their backgrounds, I would be impressed by how much they've trained in perfecting their art and by how far they've come.

"SS Chiang of Bonia is very low profile and a wonderful man. He's a leather craftsman. He started off as an apprentice making handbags in Penang. In those days, Penang island had free-port status and all the leather went there free of tax. All the apprentices would go there to learn to make things. Datuk Jimmy Choo also started his shoe-making trade in Penang. We carry all the top Malaysian brands. We deliberately niched away' from the international brands."

As we discuss the brands that are carried in the Sogo store, Lim explains that some people don't realise it but brands such as Bonia, sourced their leather from Italy, worked with Italian designers and have steered away from manufacturing in China to maintain a high-standard of quality.

Departmental store

As we discussed the brands that they're currently carrying and their future plans, I can't help but wonder if it's in their books to anchor a mall. Since many departmental stores have gone from starting as standalone formats, but have embraced the change to a smaller presence in shopping malls. "We have had many proposals coming to us requesting us to consider anchoring them. But, they don't have that large a space... It's sometimes difficult to work with developers who can accommodate our large format. We have been actively considering plans for the last three years and have two or three sites under discussion," he says without giving away anything further away.

However, for the moment they're focusing mainly on improving the shopping experience at their KL Sogo departmental store. Informing me that the ongoing renovations are just the tip of the iceberg and that they've engaged an American design team to do a makeover on their store.

"They're very well-established in California as well as in Japan. In the worldwide retail trade, the Americans have actually refined retail to a very high pinnacle. They can measure the light factor, they call it the lux factor. They've studied what kind of lighting is suitable for customers mood to shop, what sort of lighting is suitable for them to feel comfortable."

KL Sogo stands at a gross of 1.2 million sq ft with 700,000 sq ft available as shopping floor space. However, only 450,000 sq ft of that is currently being used for departmental store sales. Lim explains that the remaining has been sectioned for restaurants, lounges and a soon-to-open wellness centre. He informs me that there are two floors offering dining options. The lower ground floor comprises franchise food outlets, the sixth floor offering a food court to satisfy all palates, and their Sogo managed Chinese and Japanese restaurants to satisfy the gastronomic needs of the leisurely patron.

Shopper priority

After telling me about the layout of their floor space, he throws in a line while feigning grudge, before laughing it off. "The most important human being in the retail industry are the lady shoppers," he says, while acknowledging it's something they have taken to heart to respect.

This is most reflected in their ladies focused lounge.

"Basically, it's a very women orientated lounge. Manicure, pedicure, spas, saunas, steam baths and gym area for ladies only. Men are very badly treated. We just throw them to a small gym. They can use the karaoke room and access our computers. The platinum lounge is a place where they can chill out. This is basically meant for all the Datuk's and Tan Sri's to sit there while their wives shop. Then they'll call up and say, darling come down with your credit card. You have to pamper your top customers," he shares with a hearty laugh.

But, for the men out there, don't fret. Its wellness centre will be set to cater to both men and women. Peak Fitness, is set to soft-launch in May/June and to hard launch by year-end. Lim tells me that it's not just a gym but that they have taken to overlay the usual gym facilities with wellness advice and counselling. They'll be offering diet advice and even simple medical testing.

"We want you to live long so that you can carry on being our customers."

On why they have chosen to undertake the wellness centre themselves and not to simply lease it out to external operators, Lim shares that it's always been their preference to be able to self-manage.

"We like to control the level of service and the experience that our customers have. You can't do that when you're working with a tenant. So long as you pay me rental I have no say in what you do when you are actually administering. I cannot micro-manage the administration of your services."

Online shopping and credit cards

In addition to the wellness centre and extensive makeover, Sogo KL is taking baby-steps to add to their appeal by including Sogo's own products. They currently do have Sogo branded supermarket products and are exploring their online possibilities.

"We are actually putting in our online platform and have done a lot of study on e-commerce. The challenge is actually the logistics of the delivery of goods to your customers. We went to do a study trip in San Francisco and were very lucky to get a briefing by Macys. We met Kent Anderson, the president in charge of Macys.com, and he told us that they had to build up a critical mass of products on their website. You need to have that mass of products so that you become an active website. If you have only 10 products, nobody cares," he shares, while inquiring about my online shopping habits while I was living in the US.

Admittedly, I did partake in quite a bit of it, and have the store branded cards and credit cards to prove it. Which brought me to enquire as to whether there will be a progression their current Sogo card would be taking. Slightly cautious to not spill the details too soon, Lim tells me that it is indeed in their plans.

"We are working with a bank to make it into a credit card. I think we're going there and have just finalised our discussions with them. We are waiting for them to come back, I think they are offering both Visa and MasterCard facilities," he says.

And the end of this year should see the launch of their Sogo credit card. With my tummy happily satiated and the topics for our interview discussed, we adjourned to tour the departmental store and to explore their Gold and Platinum lounges.

Eye on Stock

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 05:47 PM PDT

KOMARKCORP Bhd advanced to a high of 46 sen during intra-day session, also the best level since August 2007 amid fresh buying momentum before trimming gains slightly in late session to settle at 45 sen, up 5.5 sen yesterday.

The recovery in the price of this stock was evidently steeper in the past three days, supported by growing trading volumes.

Elsewhere, a significant positive breakthrough was sighted on the daily bar chart. Combined together, the bullish development is likely to open the window for a higher move going forward.

The immediate upside objective would be to challenge the relatively strong resistance, resting at the 5557 sen band. The upper stiff hurdle is expected at the 66 sen mark, at which a decisive major breakout may see the bulls becoming more aggressive. if so, the next target to look for would be the 90 sen level.

Apparently, the daily slow-stochastic momentum index attempted to reverse up from the 63% level. It had retraced from the top earlier of the week.

In addition, the 14-day relative strength index continued to climb from a reading of 43 to close at the 89-point level yesterday.

Meanwhile, the daily moving average convergence/divergence histogram expanded positively and sharply against the daily signal line to stay bullish. It had issued a buy signal on Tuesday.

Technically, the indicators are pretty promising, suggesting Komarkcorp shares are poised to scale up in the short term.

As for the downside, the initial support is envisaged at the 40 sen level. The lower support of 35 sen is viewed as a more solid floor.

● The comments above do not represent a recommendation to buy or sell.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Jumaat, 29 Mac 2013

The Star Online: Business

The Star Online: Business

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