(Thai) Annual Report 2005 - United Overseas Bank

Chairman‘s Statement
Wee Cho Yaw
Chairman
2005 – Consolidation of Banking Operations
2005 was a year of consolidation for the UOB Group in Thailand.
Initiated in late 2004, the merger and integration of the Group‘s
two banking subsidiaries, UOB Radanasin Bank (UOBR) and Bank
of Asia (BOA), continued relentlessly for a large part of 2005.
Computer systems, processes and procedures were aligned where
necessary.
On 28 November 2005, following the receipt of all regulatory
approvals the two banks were finally merged and renamed United
Overseas Bank (Thai) Public Company Limited or in short, UOB
Thai. I am also happy to report that the integration of computer
systems and operations were completed smoothly with minimal
inconveniences to our customers on the same day.
With the merger completed, UOB Thai has a network of 155
branches and over 340 ATMs throughout the country, which
are strategically located to serve our customers. In addition, there
are another 342 offices in 17 other countries and territories
within the UOB Group that stand ready to support UOB Thai and
our Thai customers.
On January 19, 2006, UOB Thai celebrated its inauguration party
with friends and customers at a leading hotel in Bangkok.
Attended by the Minister of Finance, the Bank of Thailand
Governor, as well as other government officials and industry leaders,
the reception marked the successful merger of our two banks.
2005 Performance
Despite the distraction of merging and integrating the banking
operations, the UOB Group‘s Thai banking operations (full year
consolidation of UOBR and BOA) managed to achieve a 2% increase
in its total income to THB 9,535 million in 2005. At the same time,
total operating expenses (that included one-time merger related
expenses of THB 588 million) were reduced by about 2% to
THB 6,521 million as some of the operational synergies of the
4 United Overseas Bank (Thai) Public Company Limited