By TMR

Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd’s net profit rose 21.5% year-on-year (YoY) to RM148.9 million or earnings per share of 9.6 sen for the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2018.

The bank told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that its consumer banking division posted a lower net profit of 30.7% YoY, although its net interest income was higher by RM23.3 million or 7.1%.

Its business banking and financial markets posted higher profits YoY, while its stockbroking and corporate advisory services recorded a loss.

The bank said its net interest margin stands at 256 basis points (bps) — 18bps higher YoY — with operating income at RM76.2 million.

Alliance Bank’s operating expenses were reduced by 8.6%, with cost-to-income ratio improved by 8.5% to 47%.

Moving forward, Alliance Bank plans to scale its consumer lending, and small and medium enterprise banking businesses by driving productivity and its sales capacity to accelerate the bank’s loan growth.