The ratings reflect the credit profile of the head office, RHB Bank Berhad, Malaysia (RHB Bank Berhad), and the strong liquidity position of RHB.

Based on its branch legal status, RHB is assigned the same rating as RHB Bank Berhad in Malaysia.

The issuer rating is based on TRIS Rating’s assessment of RHB Bank Berhad relative to its peers within the Malaysian banking industry.

The rating takes into consideration the Malaysian bank’s relatively stable business profile supported by diversified earnings, strong capital, good asset quality, and healthier impaired-loan coverage.

These strengths are, however, constrained by modest profitability and a relatively high reliance on wholesale funding, due to its moderate deposit franchise, relative to its peers, TRIS said.

As RHB Bank Berhad’s main business operation is in Malaysia, the rating also takes into consideration the strengths and risk profile of Malaysia’s economy and banking industry.

BrandZ’s annual “Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands” study, published by WPP’s research arm Kantar, ranks Huawei 47th – up one place from last year – with an 8-per-cent increase in brand value.

This marks the fourth consecutive year that Huawei has been featured in the top 50, according to Kantor’s report released on Monday.

Ground-breaking product innovations such as the Huawei P30 smartphone’s advanced camera system and the unprecedented technological innovation baked into the Huawei Mate X handset, which boasts advanced 5G capabilities and a new foldable design, have clearly struck a chord with media and consumers alike, gaining excellent product reviews and countless awards – success that been reflected in sales, Kantor said.

As leading tech analyst firm IDC noted in its most recent “Worldwide Mobile Device Tracker”, Huawei provided the only highlight from a vendor perspective, posting year-on-year growth in shipments of more than 50%.

It further remarked that the company’s laser focus on growing its stature in the world of mobile devices saw it closing the gap on leader Samsung and firmly cementing its No-2 position globally.

The Japanese insurer will engage in mergers and acquisitions of insurance firms in the two markets to drive overseas growth, especially in the Asian market, from 10 per cent in 2018 to 20 per cent this year, he said.

In Thailand, Tokio Marine Life Insurance (Thailand) is targeted to generate premium totalling Bt7.47 billion, up 11 per cent year on year, with Bt1.7 billion coming from first-year premium, he explained.

As of the end of May, the Thai unit had recorded total premium of Bt3.01 billion, up 40 per cent from the same period last year, with Bt1 billion as first-year premium.

Hong Kong-based Kerry Logistics holds a majority interest in the JV.

Leveraging Kerry Logistics’ broad experience in origin sortation, line haul and customs clearance, and Correos’ years of expertise in postal and commercial solutions, the JV aims to bring commercial services experience to the next level for customers, including market places and e-tailers.

Cross-border e-commerce exports from China recorded a 67-per-cent year-on-year increase in 2018, amounting to 56.12 billion yuan (Bt253 billion), according to China’s General Administration of Customs.

To fulfill an increasing emphasis on e-commerce parcel security and compliance, a world-class sortation centre will be set up in Southern China under the new JV, equipped with an automated sorting system and stringent parcel screening and security controls to ensure speedy parcel handling and full compliance.

The facility, targeted to open in final quarter of this year, will occupy an area of over 18,600 square metres and have an initial sorting capacity of 500,000 parcels per day, said William Ma, group managing director of Kerry Logistics.

TRIS Rating also gave the rating on EA’s partially guaranteed debentures at “A” and the ratings on EA’s fully guaranteed debentures at “AA”.

The debentures are guaranteed by Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), which is rated “BBB+” (international scale) by S&P Global Ratings.

TRIS Rating also assigned a rating to EA’s newly proposed issue of up to Bt3 billion in senior unsecured debentures at “A-”. The one notch down from the company rating reflects the structural subordination of the senior unsecured debentures since EA is a holding company. The proceeds from the issuance will be mainly used to finance its wind power project.

The bank’s president Pisit Serewiwattana notedc that  entrepreneurs have to constantly keep abreast of global situations and developments, technological changes, trade and investment opportunities as well as trade crimes in the new era. At present, trade transactions between Thai exporters and buyers abroad are mainly carried out online. It may thus be difficult to authenticate or check the credit worthiness of buyers, especially as criminals tend to increasingly devise new techniques to hack and falsify business information between trade counterparts or disguise themselves as trade counterparts to seek benefits and deceive the other parties into transferring money to their accounts. Such cybercrimes may be committed by hackers or disguised trade counterparts using forged business cards to deceive exporters into delivering goods to the address of the criminals who can re-sell the goods. Thai importers can also mistakenly make payments to the criminals’ accounts.

Pisit said that, in managing international trade risks, Thai exporters can use a hedging tool like export credit insurance. EXIM Thailand is the only Thai financial institution that offers an export credit insurance facility based on its more than 25-year expertise and experience. Buyer risk assessment and export credit insurance services are now available in various forms to respond to the needs of Thai entrepreneurs and include flexible conditions suitable for SMEs or exporters of goods to neighbouring countries.

The EXIM Thailand president added that the bank serves as a financial intermediary to support Thai export start-up and expansion. Besides provision of credit facilities, the Bank is offering a range of risk management tools for Thai exporters, starting from analysing credit worthiness of buyers or buyer banks overseas before finalising payment and credit terms. Each exporter can choose the type of insurance to safeguard against non-payment by buyers abroad, hence gaining more confidence in international trade, even in cases where they are dealing with a new trade partner or a new market. During the first five months of 2019, 12 export credit insurance clients filed for compensation in the amount of Bt87.50 million.

“According to foreign export credit insurance agencies, 10 per cent of buyers placing purchase orders with a request for credit terms end up postponing payment, missing payment, refusing to take delivery of goods, or fall into bankruptcy. Thai exporters may be affected by the financial distress of offshore buyers. For this reason, EXIM Thailand is offering a financial tool to help them hedge international trade risks. This will not only safeguard against non-payment, but also allow for follow-up of problem debts. The insurance facility can also placed as collateral security for loans from EXIM Thailand or commercial banks,” Pisit added.