by FARA AISYAH

Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 (2Q18), jumped 14.43% year-on-year (YoY) to RM140.52 million.

The company said its net income grew 1.3% or RM5.3 million mainly from net-interest income (NII) during the three months, while net-interest margin (NIM) has recorded at 245 basis points (bps), which was 7bps higher than 2Q18.

Other operating incomes during the quarter was at RM71.5 million, while operating expenses increased by 0.7% or RM1.4 million. The group’s cost-to-income ratio improved by 30bps to 48%.

Meanwhile, Alliance Bank’s revenue slightly increased to RM399.19 million during the quarter from RM393.88 million posted a year ago.

“Our efforts and focus on our strategic pillars are key contributors to the strength of our financials this year. We see our efforts yield encouraging growth on a YoY basis,” group CEO Joel Kornreich said in a statement yesterday.

He added that the company’s underlying NII increased by 5.4% YoY for the first half of the 2019 financial year, as a result of better risk adjusted return loans and higher NIMs.

Kornreich also said net asset per share has shown a steady increase to RM3.59, compared to RM3.43 last year.

Alliance Bank has declared a first interim dividend of 8.5 sen to be paid on Dec 28, 2018.