AMBANK GROUP FY2023 NET PROFIT UP 15.5 PCT TO RM1.74 BLN

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 (Bernama) -- AMMB Holdings Bhd’s (AmBank Group) net profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2023 (FY2023) rose 15.5 per cent to RM1.74 billion from RM1.50 billion in FY2022. 

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, AmBank Group said its revenue increased 1.6 per cent to RM4.74 billion versus RM4.67 billion previously, driven by net interest income (NII) which grew 8.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) on the back of an 8.5 per cent expansion in loans. 

“NII represented approximately 75 per cent or RM3.54 billion of total income. The remaining 25 per cent of total income or RM1.2 billion came from non-interest income (NoII), which saw a decline of RM192.8 million or 13.9 per cent y-o-y, primarily due to the AmGen divestment coupled with decreased fee income from investment banking and retail wealth management. 

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“This was partly offset by stronger income from global treasury and markets, corporate banking and business banking.

“Continuing operations wise, total income grew 12.4 per cent helped by NII and NoII which saw a commendable y-o-y growth of 11.0 per cent and 16.9 per cent respectively,” it said in a separate statement today. 

Chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said its FY2023 wrapped up on a high note, marked by a robust profit after tax and minority interests, underscored by significant contributions from the majority of its key business divisions. 

He said the group had met and surpassed the ambitious goals set at the start of the year, including achieving a return on equity of 10 per cent, fortifying its balance sheet, and paying out a much-improved dividend payout ratio. 

“I am pleased that we are able to declare a final dividend of 12.3 sen per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 18.3 sen or a dividend payout ratio of 35 per cent.

“After accounting for the proposed dividends, we concluded FY2023 with the financial holding company (FHC) Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio with transitional arrangement (TA) of 12.51 per cent (FY2022: 12.20 per cent) and FHC CET1 (without TA) of 12.10 per cent (FY2022: 11.65 per cent),” he said. 

Meanwhile, the group said its gross impaired loans ratio rose marginally to 1.46 per cent versus 1.40 per cent in FY2022, with the loan loss coverage ratio (including regulatory reserves) at 127.7 per cent compared to 139.2 per cent in FY2022. 

“Demonstrating our commitment to proactive risk management, we continue to monitor the delinquency rates across our credit portfolios closely. 

“We have taken pre-emptive steps to manage accounts showing signs of delinquency, initiating necessary restructuring and rescheduling exercises for qualifying accounts before impairment becomes a necessity,” it said. 

The bank said its total gross loans and financing portfolio saw a broad-based expansion across all business segments, growing by 8.5 per cent or RM10.2 billion to RM130.2 billion. 

It said that loans in retail banking grew RM4.0 billion or 5.8 per cent, wholesale banking rose RM3.6 billion (11.6 per cent), and business banking increased to RM2.5 billion (13.1 per cent).

Customer deposits experienced a healthy growth of 6.3 per cent to RM130.3 billion against FY2022’s RM122.6 billion, primarily driven by a steady increase in retail deposits, it said. 

“Time deposits increased 2.6 per cent y-o-y, while current account and savings account (CASA) balances showed a more substantial increase of 13.2 per cent to RM48.8 billion.

“As a result, the bank’s CASA mix improved to 37.4 per cent compared to 35.2 per cent last year, (while) the group’s liquidity coverage ratio stood at 149.2 per cent against 158.5 per cent in FY2022,” it added.

-- BERNAMA