KUALA LUMPUR: Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd's net profit increased 15.9 per cent to RM118.39 million during the financial year ended December 31, 2021 (FY21) from RM102.08 million recorded in FY20.
Its revenue, however, eased 8.4 per cent to RM891.49 million from RM973.76 million.
Kenanga group managing director Datuk Chay Wai Leong said despite the tumultuous year, the bank's stockbroking business continued to contribute the lion's share of its 2021 bottom line that was further reinforced by the significant strides made by both asset management and private equity businesses.
"This enabled us to thrive through the volatilities to deliver a stellar performance that beat the odds – a testimony to the strength of our diversified strategy," he said in a statement today.
Kenanga's stockbroking division maintained a pre-tax profit of RM86.4 million for the year ended 2021, similar to the pre-tax profit of the year before.
Its retail market share grew to 24.2 per cent, from 22.2 per cent driven by the continuous expansion of its joint venture Rakuten Trade, Malaysia's first fully digital stocktrading platform.
Kenanga's investment management division surged by almost three folds, to a record pre-tax profit contribution of RM34.9 million.
"This is due to the higher performance fee and management fee income generated from increased asset under administration to RM18.8 billion and a 60 per cent growth in sales agency force," it said.
Meanwhile, Kenanga's private equity arm had an exceptional year in 2021, with Fund I vintages maturing and in the harvesting period.
It said RM24.6 million gains were recognised during the year.
Kenanga declared a dividend of 10.5 sen per share, highest since becoming an investment bank.
For the fourth quarter, Kenanga's net profit eased 18 per cent to RM32.22 million from RM39.29 million, while revenue decreased 18.3 per cent to RM226.08 million from RM276.82 million.
Moving forward, Chay said digital, which had been central in shaping the bank's growth journey, would continue to play a pivotal role in powering Kenanga's next phase of advancement.
Kenanga recently launched Malaysia's latest robo-advisor, Kenanga Digital Investing (KDI).
This follows the introduction of Rakuten Trade, which recently launched stock trading in the US markets at the same competitive commissions as trading on the local bourse.