Malaysia's biggest banking group Maybank has emerged among the top performing banks in Asia, excluding Japan, in terms of shareholder return last year.

Maybank was fifth in the shareholder performance index among Asian large cap banks, those with an average market value of more than US$10 billion last year, according to a financial services industry report released recently by consultancy group Mercer Oliver Wyman in Singapore.

Malaysia's national news agency Bernama also carried the report.

Leading the pack was Bank of China (Hong Kong) followed by OCBC Bank (Singapore), Kookmin Bank (Korea) and United Overseas Bank (Singapore).

Another Malaysian lender, Public Bank occupied the third spot for the Asian mid cap banks, those with an average market value of less than US$10 billion last year.

India's Punjab National Bank and Indonesia's Bank Central Asia occupied the top and second spot respectively while India's Housing Development Finance Corporation and Korea's Woori Financial Holdings (Korea) the fourth and fifth spots respectively, the report showed.

The report said that Asian financial services institutions posted the highest growth in shareholder value creation in the past five years, a sign of them emerging from the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

Asia very attractive

Excluding Japan, Asia's average shareholder performance index jumped sharply from minus 50 in 2000 to 130 in 2005 whilst most other established geographies such as North America and Europe showed a downward trend over the same period, Mercer Oliver Wyman said.

Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific for Mercer Oliver Wyman, Clarence Koo said: "Cross-border merger and acquisition activities in Asia continue to be integral to the growth of foreign acquirers. They offer the opportunity to gain access to new growth markets, benefit from international diversification and realise cost advantages."

Asia has been also forecast to enjoy the highest revenue growth of any region, making it even more attractive to potential acquirers, he added.

"There is also an incentive to take a proactive leadership position ahead of market changes, such as the increased access by foreign banks to China's domestic market at the end of this year," said Koo.