MANILA: The Philippine unit of Malaysia’s CIMB Group Holdings Bhd
is targeting lending of more than 75 billion pesos (US$1.28bil) to Filipino clients this year, up 23% from 2023, its chief executive officer says.
CIMB Bank Philippines will grow its customer base and plans to serve new clients like small businesses and overseas Filipino workers, Vijay Manoharan told a press conference, adding that the bank achieved profitable operations last year.
In the first quarter ended March 31 (1Q24), CIMB Group’s net profit rose 17.7% to RM1.96bil against RM1.64bil, translating into a higher earnings per share of 18.16 sen from 15.42 sen in the same quarter last year. Revenue rose 12.6% to RM5.63bil compared with the RM5bil achieved last year.
The positive performance translates to an improvement in the group’s annualised return on average equity to 11.4% compared to 10.3% recorded in 1Q23. — Agency
