KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): AMMB Holdings Bhd (KL:AMBANK), Malaysia’s sixth-largest banking group by assets, closed its financial year with record net profit and raised its dividend distribution.
Shares of AMMB turned positive after the announcements, closing three sen or 0.55% higher at RM5.44 at the end of Monday's trading session. Both interest and non-interest income rose while provisions fell during the 12 months ended March 31, 2025 (FY2025).
Moving forward, the combined global uncertainties will affect business and consumer confidence, translating into potentially slower economic growth, chief executive officer Jamie Ling said in a statement.
“Against this economic backdrop, the group will continue to proactively manage our risk profiles and capitalise on the opportunities we see,” he added.
Net profit for FY2025 was RM2 billion, an increase of 7% from a year earlier, a bourse filing showed on Monday. Net interest income grew 8% to RM3.57 billion while non-interest income grew 1.3% to RM1.36 billion.
The bank achieved return-on-equity of 10%.
AMMB also declared a final dividend per share of 19.9 sen, higher than the 16.6 sen declared in the fourth quarter of FY2024. The total dividend declared for FY2025 was 30.2 sen per share, translating into a payout of over RM1 billion.
Net interest income — a measure of profitability from interest charged on loans after paying returns on deposits — expanded 15 basis points to 1.94% in FY2025. Gross loans expanded 4% while customer deposits slipped 1%.
In terms of asset quality, net impairments fell 56%, partly thanks to provision writebacks and as fewer loans went into default. Gross impaired loans, debts deemed unrecoverable as a percentage of total loans, improved 13 basis points to 1.54%.
The bank’s common equity tier 1 capital ratio, a measure of a bank’s capital strength based on the highest quality of regulatory capital, rose to 14.82% post-dividend from 13.04% a year earlier.