KUALA LUMPUR: AMMB Holdings Bhd reported a net profit of RM500.6 million for its second quarter of financial year 2025 (2QFY25), a 6.6 per cent increase, compared to RM469.7 million the same quarter a year ago on higher net income and operating profit.
Revenue for the quarter was nine per cent higher at RM1.23 billion.
AmBank Group chief executive officer Jamie Ling said the company is pleased with progress it made in the first half, noting that further net interest margin (NIM) expansion drove net interest income higher.
"We incurred significantly lower net impairment charges for the period. Lending growth in our focussed segments is strong and our overall return on equity is above 10 per cent."Our capital position has strengthened further with RM1.0 billion in profit accretion, as well as from the adoption of FIRB this quarter."We are pleased to declare a 71.7 per cent increase in interim dividend for 1HFY25," he said in a statement.
Ling said the company remains optimistic on its financial year 2025 (FY25) prospects, in line with Malaysia's improving economic prospects."We are making good progress at the halfway mark of FY25. There is much to be done still and we continue to focus on executing our Winning Together (WT29) plans," he added.
The group reported a net income of RM2.41 billion for the six month period ended Sep 30, 2024 (H1FY2024: RM2.33 billion).
Net interest income (NII) grew 6.5 per cent year-on-year to RM1.76 billion (H1FY2024: RM1.65 billion), mainly driven by a 14-basis points net interest margin (NIM) expansion to 1.93 per cent (H1FY2024: 1.79 per cent) and loans and financing growth.
Continuing operations' net income was 5.8 per cent higher YoY, led by NII and non-interest income (NoII) growth of 6.5 per cent and 4.0 per cent respectively.
Its net impairment charges were lower at RM57.2 million due to lower net impairment charges in retail banking, business banking and higher provision reversals in wholesale banking.
AMMB's earnings per share (EPS) grew 18 per cent YoY to 30.26 sen per share while net assets per share (NTA) added 15 sen to RM6.03.
The banking group also announced an interim dividend payout of 10.3 sen per share, 71.7 per cent higher YoY, which translates to a 34 per cent dividend payout ratio for the first half of financial year 2025 (1HFY25).