CIMB posts RM1.02bil Q3 profit
Revenue also higher at RM4.12bil
PETALING JAYA: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd recorded RM1.02bil in net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2016, a 27.3% increase from a year ago.
Its revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% to RM4.12bil from RM3.84bil during the same period last year.
The higher earnings were attributed to a strong performance in the group’s consumer banking segments in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
In its announcement to Bursa Malaysia, the group said profit before tax (PBT) for its consumer banking segment grew 27.2% during the quarter, driven by loan growth and lower provisions.
For the commercial banking segment, PBT declined 54.8% year-onyear (y-o-y), mainly due to higher provisions during the quarter, while the 2.6% growth in PBT for wholesale banking was attributed to the improved capital market business.
The group said its consistent efforts in managing cost had also resulted in an improvement in its cost-to-income ratio to 53.2% during the quarter.
For the first nine months of the year, revenue was 3.5% higher at RM11.75bil, while net profit was up by 33.9% to RM2.71bil from a year ago.
The group’s non-Malaysia PBT contribution for the period remained steady at 25% from a year ago.
Indonesia’s PBT expanded by 104.2% to RM578mil y-o-y in line with the improving financial performance at PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk.
Thailand’s PBT contribution was 37.8% lower at RM145mil due to higher loan provisions.
Total PBT contribution from Singapore was 37.6% lower at RM199mil due to slower loans growth and increased commercial banking provisions.
The group’s gross impairment ratio reduced to 3.2% as at September 2016 from 3.4% in September 2015, with a higher allowance coverage of 80.6%.
Its chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz, in a statement, said the group’s T18 strategy had laid the right foundations in terms of capital, cost, culture, customer-centricity and compliance to enable the group to move forward with better clarity.
“On consumer banking, we will accelerate our digital proposition across the region and focus on recalibration in Thailand.
“On commercial banking, we will sustain the momentum in Malaysia and Indonesia, whilst focusing on asset quality in Thailand,” he said.
He said they expect better loans growth in corporate banking and a steady improvement in the capital markets business, subject to market conditions.
He added that the group would further fine-tune its programmes as it approached the halfway mark of its T18 strategy to ensure a sustainable growth trajectory across all businesses.
“We are also excited about Vietnam, where we have been granted a full banking licence and will begin operations in December 2016,” he said.