Bank Muamalat posts 33.5% growth in pre-tax profit

PETALING JAYA: Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd’s (BMMB) pre-tax profit increased by 33.5% for the first six-month period ending September 2015 to RM92.4 million from RM69.2 million in the corresponding period in 2014.
Shareholders of Bank Muamalat and Malaysia Building Society Bhd are currently in their second month of talks, to agree on a proposed merger between the two financial groups. DRB Hicom Bhd owns a 70% stake in Bank Muamalat, while Khazanah Nasional Bhd holds the remainder.
“The improved performance was driven by a steady growth in revenue derived from a 12.4% growth in gross financing and our continuous effort in managing yields of our portfolios. Equally significant, we experienced a notable cost reduction resulting from our cost rationalisation and operational efficiency initiatives,” its CEO Datuk Mohd Redza Shah Abdul Wahid (pix) said in a statement yesterday.
Total revenue increased from RM530.6 million to RM583.4 million largely from the 11.1% growth in financing income, while total overheads reduced by more than 10% to RM171.6 million from RM192 million previously.
Total gross financing grew to RM14.4 billion as at the end of September 2015, from RM12.8 billion in the corresponding period last year. At the same time, asset quality, as measured by gross impairment ratio, continued to improve to 2.49% from 2.8% recorded in the previous corresponding period.
The bank’s key capital ratios remained at a healthy level, with core capital ratio at 12.6% and risk weighted capital ratio at 15.07%, among the highest in the industry.
“These improvements are the result of our constant effort on prudent recovery, credit risk management initiatives and better quality financing base expansion”, added Mohd Redza.