KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd Bhd posted a record net profit of RM1.98bil in the second quarter ended June 30, 2018 (Q2 FY18)which was an 80% increase, compared with RM1.10bil a year ago.
The banking group announced on Wednesday its revenue increased by 12.4% to RM4.863bil from RM4.327bil. Earnings per share were 21.29 sen compared with 12.25 sen.
It declared a first interim net dividend of 13 sen per share to be paid via cash or an optional dividend reinvestment scheme.
CIMB said the total interim dividend totalled RM1.22bil, translating to a dividend payout ratio of 51.6% of H1, FY18 net profits.
In the first half (H1, FY18), its net profit jumped 43.9% to a record RM3.286bil from RM2.282bil. Its revenue increased by 5.5% to RM9.16bil from RM8.68bil.
CIMB Group said the H1 FY18 earnings were boosted by a gain from the sale of 20% of CIMB-Principal Asset Management (CPAM) and 10% of CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management (CPIAM) amounting to RM928mil.
This raised the group’s first half return on average equity to 11.5%, and reduced its cost-to-income ratio (CIR) to 46.1%.
“On a business-as-usual (BAU) basis, profit before tax (PBT) was RM3.27bil for H1, FY18 representing a 7.4% year-on-year growth.
“Lower on-year operating expenses of 7.3% and loan loss provisions of 29.4% contributed to the group’s increase in H1, FY18 BAU net profit by 3.3% on-year to RM2.36bil.
“This was achieved despite a 5.2% on-year drop in operating income due to weaker capital markets in Malaysia,” it said.
Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz, Group CEO, CIMB Group said: “We are pleased with our record net profit of RM3.29bil, contributed partly by the RM928mil gain from the strategic realignment of our shareholding in CPAM and CPIAM, which also provided an uplift of 15bps to our CET1.
“Consumer banking chalked a stellar performance, posting a 34.7% Y-o-Y increase in PBT; while commercial banking’s PBT rose by 19.9% on-year. The weaker markets in Malaysia, however, contributed to a lower PBT for wholesale banking,” he said.
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