KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 — AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank) rebounded to record a net profit of RM1.5 billion in the financial year ended March 31, 2022 (FY22) against a net loss of RM3.83 billion in FY21.
Revenue also strengthened to RM4.67 billion from RM4.55 billion previously driven by both net interest margin (NIM) expansion and broad-based loans growth, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.
The banking group said non-interest income (NII) was reduced by 14.1 per cent year-on-year, owing to the volatile market conditions, which led to lower trading and investment income from group treasury and markets as well as investment income from the insurance business.
However, it said this was partly offset by higher fee income from corporate banking and investment banking while its cost-to-income (CTI) ratio improved further to 44.9 per cent from 46.8 per cent a year ago.
It said return on equity stood at 9.3 per cent in FY22 from a negative 20.2 per cent in the last financial year and return on assets was 0.94 per cent from a negative 2.24 per cent while net assets per share rose to RM5.06 from RM4.87.
Meanwhile, it said net impairment charge of RM766 million was lower by 32.6 per cent as compared with RM1.13 billion in the previous year mainly attributable to reversals of both forward-looking and central overlay provisions, which offset against the provision charges for oil and gas exposures.
It said gross loans and financing grew 6.5 per cent year-on-year to RM120 billion driven by broad-based loans growth, in line with the sustained rebound of improved global and domestic economic activities.
Ambank said deposits from customers increased by 1.7 per cent year-on-year to RM122.6 billion mainly driven by a robust 20.6 per cent growth in the current account savings account (CASA) balances to RM43.1 billion, which cushioned the 6.3 per cent year-on-year decrease in time deposits.
Consequently, it said CASA mix was higher at 35.2 per cent against 29.7 per cent in the previous financial year. It added that the banking group also remained highly liquid with a liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) of 158.5 per cent as at March 31, 2022.
Group chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said the group stood at a position of strength at the end of 2022 with a stronger balance sheet, capitalisation and more diverse liquidity profile.
“Sustaining our strong performance, we ended the year with a high total income of RM4.66 billion.
“Net interest income (NII) increased 11.6 per cent year-on-year on the back of 6.5 per cent loans growth while NIM was higher at 2.05 per cent from 1.90 per cent in the previous financial year,” he said.
The bank declares a final dividend of five sen per share with a dividend payout ratio of 11 per cent. — Bernama
