Sathapana Bank Plc saw strong growth on its investment in commercial banking services after it was acquired by Japanese-owned Maruhan Japan Bank early last year, which transformed the microfinance giant into a full-fledged commercial bank, the company’s executive said yesterday.

Speaking at the official launch of Sathapana’s new logo – a honeycomb design that features Mount Fuji in the centre – Norihiko Kato, CEO, said the massive merger between Maruhan and Sathapana made the bank the second-largest in Cambodia in terms of branch network and number of employees.

“Our chairman is satisfied with the performance as our business growth is well on track,” he said. “Our strengths are based on Sathapana’s former microfinance operations.”

According to Norihiko, Sathapana is operating with 168 branches nationwide with 4,200 staff. By the end of September this year, the bank’s total assets surpassed $1 billion for the first time.

Meanwhile, as of the end of October, the bank had a total outstanding loan portfolio of $750 million, a 23 percent increase compared to the end of 2016. During that same period, deposits grew to reach $640 million, compared to $583 million as of the end of 2016.

Norihiko said that the bank plans to keep enlarging its branch network while introducing more digital services and expanding its ATM network.

Sathapana Bank is one of the financial institutions that earlier this year was mandated to change its logo after the government claimed it was too similar to a state-run institution’s.