KUALA LUMPUR: AMMB Holdings Bhd
(AmBank) chief executive officer Jamie Ling said the group has taken additional prudent overlays to improve its loan loss coverage (LLC) levels, particularly when the various pandemic-related loan repayment schemes end.
“As we are in the final year of our Focus 8 strategy, delivering a return on equity of 10% and the continued strengthening of the group’s capital ratio positions us well into the future,” said Ling, who took the helm as the group chief executive officer on Nov 23, 2023.
In conjunction with the release of the group’s latest quarterly results, he said it is on track to reverting to its historical dividend payout trend after taking steps to increase the group’s LLC to 100% for the individual retail segment as a prudent buffer and the further strengthening of capital ratios.
AmBank’s performance in the third quarter of financial year 2024 (3Q24) was boosted by a one-off tax credit of RM537.6mil.
Overall, the one-off items for the quarter resulted in a RM135.1mil net benefit to profit after tax and minority interest.
The group posted a net profit of RM543.41mil during the quarter, up from RM444.21mil in 3Q23, representing an earnings per share of 16.42 sen compared to 13.42 sen.
Revenue came in at RM1.15bil in 3Q24 against RM1.22bil in the same quarter in the previous year.
Over the nine-month period, the group’s net profit was RM1.39bil, as compared to RM1.28bil in the first nine months of financial year 2023 (9M23), while revenue was RM3.48bil against RM3.55bil in the previous corresponding period.
AmBank said that while total income during the period was marginally lower at RM3.48bil, income from its continuing operations was largely unchanged at RM3.43bil.
Net interest margin in 9M24 was 1.79% when compared to 2.16% in the previous period due to the increase in funding cost as deposits repriced upwards due to increases in the overnight policy rate.
Subsequently, net interest income for the period fell 8.7% to RM2.48bil, partially offset by strong growth of 19.2% in non-interest income to RM995.8mil.
AmBank said gross loans and financing grew marginally year-to-date to RM131.3bil from RM130.2bil in FY23, with 4% year-on-year growth.
Customer deposits grew 4.3% year-to-date to RM135.9bil with time deposits growing 10.6% year-to-date to RM90.1bil amid a reduction in current account and savings account (Casa).
The Casa mix stood at 33.7%, down from 37.4% in FY23.
