Commonwealth Bank of Australia has remained at the top of the Asia-Pacific (excluding China and Japan) ranking for the sixth year running, despite reporting a 12.53% decrease in Tier 1 capital in 2022 and falling four places in the main Top 1000 World Banks 2023 ranking, to 45th.
While Australia’s banks still make a strong showing, State Bank of India (SBI) has disrupted their hold on the top four places in the regional table by moving up three spots to take second place. In the main Top 1000 ranking, SBI has climbed seven places to 51st thanks to a 9.45% increase in Tier 1. The bank leapfrogged Westpac and ANZ, which reported declines in Tier 1 capital of 9.77% and 3.54%, respectively.
National Australia Bank, which was fourth in the 2022 ranking, has slipped to sixth place, overtaken by DBS. The Singaporean bank saw a 3.17% increase in Tier 1 capital and rose two places to 57th in the main Top 1000 ranking. Singapore’s United Overseas Bank breaks into the regional top 10, despite only seeing a 0.4% increase in Tier 1 and remaining at 74th place in the global ranking.
While South Korea’s KB Financial Group and Shinhan Financial Group maintain their positions in the regional top 10 at seventh and ninth place, respectively, Korea Development Bank has fallen out of the top 10 to 11th position due to a 20.04% contraction in core capital. South Korea has been hit by poor economic growth of 2.6% for 2022, recording a 0.4% retraction in gross domestic product (GDP) for the final quarter of the year as slowing export figures affected the economy.
Banks in Vietnam reported strong growth rates in 2022 and the country claims eight of the 10 places in the regional highest movers table. The other two places are occupied by Indian banks UCO Bank and Bank of Maharashtra.
Vietnam’s lenders have benefitted from strong GDP growth in 2022, of 8.02%. Commercial joint stock bank SeABank is the highest mover in the region, climbing to 771st place from 921st with a 39.21% increase in Tier 1 capital. The bank, which entered the Top 1000 for the first time in 2022, received $500m in investment from international funds including the International Finance Corporation.
Papua New Guinea’s Bank of South Pacific holds on to the top spot for return on capital (ROC). The bank also places fourth for return on assets (ROA). Kazakhstan’s banks perform particularly well in these categories, with all three banks in the Top 1000 – Halyk Bank, Jusan Bank and ForteBank – occupying the top three places in the ROA table, respectively. Forte Bank and Halyk Bank also take third and fourth places for ROC.
Three new entrants from the region joined the ranking this year: India’s Tamilnad Mercantile Bank along with Indonesia’s Bank Jatim and Bank Jateng.
