KUALA LUMPUR (June 5): The Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) has disposed of its remaining 5.17% stake in AMMB Holdings Bhd (KL:AMBANK) for RM701.16 million, confirming a report by The Edge last week that the Australian group was planning to exit Malaysia’s sixth-largest lender by assets.
ANZ, through its wholly owned subsidiary ANZ Fund Pty Ltd, sold the stake comprising 171.02 million shares on Wednesday, said AMMB in a filing to Bursa Malaysia, without mentioning who bought the shares.
In a separate statement, ANZ said it had agreed to sell the chunk of shares via a block trade at a price of RM4.10 per share. This was at the higher end of the RM4.05 to RM4.10 price range that The Edge reported the block was put on sale for, citing a term sheet it had sighted.
The offer price represents a 2.84% discount to AMMB’s closing price on May 30 of RM4.22.
"The sale of our equity stake in AmBank is a significant milestone in delivering on our strategy to simplify the bank (ANZ). We have valued our partnership with AmBank and wish the group well for the future," said ANZ chief financial officer Farhan Faruqui.
NZ plans to use the sale proceeds to increase its CET1 ratio by about five basis points, which it said is additional to the 16bps of capital released from the sale of its initial block of 16.5% of AMMB shares in March 2024.
"The sale proceeds will have no material impact on profit," its statement read, adding the settlement is anticipated to take place on Wednesday.ANZ, Australia’s fourth-largest bank, has long made known its intention to divest its block of AMMB shares. In March, it offloaded a 16.5% stake in AMMB for RM2.1 billion, reducing its equity interest to 5.17%.
Following ANZ’s full exit, AMMB announced that its non-executive director Robert William Goudswaard, who was the representative of ANZ on the board, has stepped down from his position.
AMMB’s largest shareholder is currently the Employees Provident Fund with a 14.3% stake, followed by founder Tan Sri Azman Hashim with a 11.8% stake.
AMMB closed its financial year ended March 31, 2024 (FY2024) with net profit rising 9.4% year-on-year to RM1.87 billion, from RM1.71 billion, despite lower net interest income of RM2.14 billion versus RM2.28 billion.
Shares in AMMB closed unchanged at RM4.27 on Wednesday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM14.15 billion. Year-to-date, the counter has risen 6.48%.