KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 ― AMMB Holdings Bhd’s (AmBank Group) net profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2024 (FY2024) rose by 9.3 per cent to RM1.87 billion compared to RM1.71 billion recorded in the previous financial year.

Revenue, however, fell to RM4.65 billion from RM4.71 billion previously due to a decline in net interest income (NII).

In a Bursa Malaysia filing, AmBank Group said its NII declined by 6.7 per cent to RM3.30 billion, while non-interest income (NoII) delivered strong year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 14.7 per cent to RM1.34 billion, which helped to offset the effects of net interest margin (NIM) compression.

"NoII growth was primarily contributed by higher fee income from investment banking, fund and wealth management, as well as higher investment income and trading gains from group treasury and markets (GTM) and foreign exchange (FX) income from business banking and retail banking.

"Income from continuing operations was marginally higher at RM4.59 billion, led by NoII growth of 19.2 per cent, offset by a 5.5 per cent drop in NII,” said the group.

AmBank Group’s return on equity (ROE) improved to 10.0 per cent in FY2024 from 9.8 per cent in FY2023, while return on assets (ROA) improved to 0.97 per cent from 0.90 per cent in the previous corresponding period.

For the fourth quarter (4Q) ended March 31, 2024, AmBank Group’s net profit increased to RM476.54 million from RM427.39 million in the same quarter last year, while revenue rose to RM1.17 billion from RM1.16 billion previously.

AmBank Group declared a final dividend of 16.6 sen per share in 4Q. Together with a 6.0 sen per share interim dividend declared in 2Q, FY2024 total dividends amounted to 22.6 sen per share, translating to a dividend payout ratio of 40 per cent.

Meanwhile, the group’s gross impaired loans (GIL) ratio was at 1.67 per cent compared to 1.46 per cent in FY2023, with a loan loss coverage (LLC), including regulatory reserves of 109.5 per cent compared to 127.7 per cent in FY2023.

"Total gross loans and financing grew 3.0 per cent y-o-y to RM134.1 billion (from RM130.2 billion, primarily from business banking (up RM3.6 billion or 10.4 per cent y-o-y) and retail banking (up RM1.7 billion or 2.3 per cent y-o-y), offset by a decline in wholesale banking (reduced by RM1.4 billion or 6.5 per cent y-o-y) mainly due to an early repayment of a large loan during the year.

"Total customer deposits grew 9.3 per cent y-o-y to RM142.4 billion (FY2023: RM130.3 billion), driven by a 9.9 per cent y-o-y growth in time deposits to RM89.6 billion and an 8.1 per cent increase in current and savings account (CASA) to RM52.8 billion. CASA mix was 37.1 per cent,” it said.

On prospects, AmBank Group chief executive officer Jamie Ling said the group expects global financial markets to remain volatile, centred around inflation outlook and monetary policy direction on interest rates globally.

"External demand drivers have improved despite ongoing geopolitical tensions and conflicts.

"Domestically, we expect a 4.0 to 5.0 per cent gross domestic product growth for Malaysia’s economy in 2024, supported by resilient domestic demand and improving labour markets driving consumption,” he added.

Ling also noted that the group successfully closed out its Focus 8 strategy phase, delivering around RM5.0 billion improvement in market capitalisation between FY2021 and FY2024. ― Bernama