KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 14): AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank Group) group chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said he is "worried" about the outlook of the banking industry in 2017, and expects improvement only in the second half of next year.

"We initially thought we could see some reversal in the first half, but the uncertainty persisted," he told reporters after the launch of AmBanks Group's latest credit card campaign today, attributing events like Brexit and the US presidential election to the unclear market direction.

However, Sulaiman said AmBank Group is optimistic on its loan growth for the upcoming quarters, supported by the growing infrastructure development and considering its smaller starting base which leaves more room for growth.

AmBank Group expects its loan growth to increase 4% to 5% for its financial year ending March 31, 2017 (FY17) compared to 2% the previous year despite the slow economic environment.

The group saw its net profit decline 7.8% to RM352.63 million in the second financial quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (2QFY17) from RM382.52 million a year ago, mainly due to lower interest income from insurance business.

At 12.30pm, shares of AmBank Group were unchanged at RM4.45 for a market capitalisation of RM13.41 billion.