by ANIS HAZIM / Pic by Muhd Amin Naharul

AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank) reported an 8.4% jump in net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2022 (1Q23), to RM419.2 million against RM386.6 million in the same period a year ago on the back of lower impairment charges.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, the group posted earnings per share of 12.66 sen from 11.86 sen last year.

Its revenue, however, dipped 5.69% to RM1.16 billion from RM1.24 billion earlier due to lower trading and investment income.

AmBank did not declare any dividend for the latest quarter.

On a quarterly basis, AmBank’s net profit grew 7% from RM391.75 million in 4Q22, as revenue grew 3.57% from RM1.12 billion.

In a separate statement, AmBank said that its non-interest income was reduced by 28.9% year-on-year owing to the market volatility which led to lower trading and investment income, as well as lower fee income.

The group’s net impairment charge of RM63.9 million was lower by 68.55% compared to RM203.2 million in the previous year.

“The group is committed to proactive risk management and continues to monitor its asset quality vigilantly, with a heightened focus on gross impaired loan portfolio which is expected to trend up following the tapering of loans under relief schemes,” it said.

AmBank’s gross loans and financing came in at RM120.1 billion, which grew 0.08% compared to RM120 billion in the financial year 2022.

The bank’s retail banking loans also grew 0.9% year-to-date (YTD) to RM69 billion, mainly driven by mortgages and personal financing.

The bank’s wholesale banking, on the other hand, reduced 2.7% YTD to RM30.2 billion, while business banking loans grew 1.7% YTD to RM19.1 billion.

AmBank’s customer deposits increased by 3% to RM121.4 billion which was offset by an 8.2% reduction in the current account and savings account balances.

On its prospects, AmBank group CEO Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir (picture) sees significant signs of recovery in Malaysia’s economic activities across various sectors.

“While the potential challenges surrounding geopolitical tension, global recession, inflation, protracted disruptions to supply chains as well as financial market volatilities remain a concern, AmBank is in a strong position to weather these uncertain times and capitalise on the opportunities that lie ahead, particularly given our solid liquidity, credit quality and reserve levels,” he said.

Meanwhile, AmBank has baked in another 25 basis points (bps) of Overnight Policy Rate hike in September 2022 with a probability of 40% for another 25bps in November 2022 supported by healthy potential incoming data that reflects a pick-up in demand pressures.

At 4.30pm today, AmBank’s share price dropped four sen or 1% to RM3.98, valuing the group at RM13.22 billion.