KUALA LUMPUR: AmBank Group posted net profit of RM1.13bil for the financial year ended March 31, 2018 but this was lower from a year due to its mutual separation scheme (MSS) and other normalised items.
It said on Thursday the FY18 net profit fell 14.5% from RM1.324bil in FY17. Its revenue rose 3.5% to RM8.57bil from RM8.28bil. It announced a dividend of 10 sen a share.
AmBank reported a 5.7% increase in income of RM3.979bil, underpinned by a 8.4% growth in net interest income (NII) (+8.4%). Its net interest margin (NIM) rose by 2 basis points on-year at 2%.
It recorded expenses of RM2.42bil, up by 12.0% predominantly from the cost of RM146mil incurred on the mutual separation scheme (MSS) exercise which the banking group said would improve operational efficiency. The underlying expenses rose by 3.1%.
“Profit before provision (PBP) fell 2.9% to RM1.558bil due to one-off expenses incurred. On an underlying basis, PBP increased 15.8% on-year.
“Net impairment charge was RM16mil (FY17: Net recovery of RM196mil) as recoveries and releases tapered,” it said.
Q4 FY18
For the fourth quarter its net profit fell by 24.5% to RM253.41mil from RM335.81mil a year ago. Its revenue rose by 3% to RM2.21bil from RM2.145bil. Its earnings per share were 8.43 sen compared with 11.17 sen.
AmBank Group chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said: “For FY18, we stepped up income growth momentum and closed the year with a growth of 5.7% compared with 1.9% growth in FY17.
“In Q4FY18, our income reached RM1.071bil, the highest recorded since Q4FY15,” he said.