KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd expects improved earnings growth as it expands its financing volume, while net interest margin (NIM) is forecast to stabilise.
"Central to the bank’s strategy is the meticulous management of NIM, focusing on rebalancing the funding composition," said group CEO Datuk Mohd Muazzam Mohamed in a statement.
He added that both retail and non-retail portfolios are poised to propel financing growth for the year.
Meanwhile, Mohd Muazzam said the bank will focus on cost optimisation through various initiatives, while leveraging digital innovation to elevate the customer experience.
In the quarter ended March 31, 2024, Bank Islam posted a net profit of RM129.17mil, up from RM118.09mil in the year-ago quarter on revenue of RM1.14bil against RM1.1bil in the comparative quarter.
The bank's earnings per share rose to 5.7 sen from 5.33 sen in 1QFY23.
According to the bank, the increase in net profit was mainly owing to higher net income and lower net allowance for impairment on financing.
The group’s increase in net income was mainly due to the rise in net fund-based income, which improved 5.4% to RM528.9mil, driven by year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in financing and investment securities.
The increase facilitated an eight basis points improvement in the NIM, reaching 2.14% for 1Q24, compared to 2.06% recorded in 1Q23.
However, the group’s non-fund-based income decreased RM16.5mil or 15.6%, stemming from lower investment income during the period under review.
The group's net allowance for impairment on financing and advances improved 31.8% to RM42.3mil compared to the same period in 1Q23.
During the quarter, gross financing grew 2.4% y-o-y to RM67.8bil, while customer deposits and investment accounts stood at RM76.4bil.
The group said current and saving and transactional investment accounts (Casatia) remained robust, amounting to RM30.6bil at the end of March 2024, constituting 40.1% of the total customer deposits and investment accounts.
