Business

Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui to take 5per cent stake in Philippine bank RCBC

Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group said it agreed to invest around 10 billion yen (US$90.3 million) in Philippine bank Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), taking a 5per cent stake, as it looks for growth outside a slow-growing domestic market.

FILE PHOTO: Logos of Sumitomo Corp are seen after the company's initiation ceremony at its hea
FILE PHOTO: Logos of Sumitomo Corp are seen after the company's initiation ceremony at its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan April 2, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo
(Updated: )

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TOKYO: Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group said it agreed to invest around 10 billion yen (US$90.3 million) in Philippine bank Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), taking a 5per cent stake, as it looks for growth outside a slow-growing domestic market.

SMFG, Japan's second biggest lender by assets, said it saw the Philippines as a key market, and cited RCBC's strength in digital banking services.

The move follows its announcement in April that it would invest up to 150 billion yen in Vietnam's biggest non-bank lender FE Credit as it looks for growth outside a slow-growing domestic market.

(US$1 = 110.7000 yen)

This story refiles to remove headline attribution to Nikkei, which first reported the deal.

(Reporting by Tokyo Newsroom; Editing by Louise Heavens and Edmund Blair)

Source: Reuters