KUALA LUMPUR: BIMB Holdings Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 rose 17.6% to RM202.52 million from RM172.14 million a year ago, thanks to higher contribution from both operating subsidiaries Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd and Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd (Takaful Malaysia).
The group’s revenue grew 18.4% to RM1.18 billion compared with RM999.36 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.
Bank Islam reported a profit before zakat and taxation (PBZT) of RM219.9 million, an increase of 6.1% over the corresponding period in 2018, underpinned by higher total net income.
Gross fund-based income increased 12.5% on the back of an 8.7% growth in net financing assets to RM46.1 billion as at March 31, 2019.
While non-fund based income increased 37.3%, BIMB said the quality of the bank’s increased assets portfolio remained strong and is reflected in the low gross impaired financing ratio of 0.95% as at March 31, 2019, lower than the 1.48% of the banking system as at end-February 2019.
The bank’s financing loss coverage ratio of 172.9% was the highest among industry peers and much higher than the industry average of 96.2% of the same period. Its total capital ratio stood at 17.7% compared with 16.9% a year ago.
For the rest of the year, Bank Islam will continue to focus on its three-year strategic plan to deliver sustainable performance based on the principles of value-based intermediation.
Meanwhile, Takaful Malaysia recorded a 33.5% higher PBZT of RM113.3 million against RM84.9 million in the same period in 2018, attributable to higher net Wakalah fee income generated by growth in the family takaful business.
Despite business sentiments remaining cautious in 2019, Takaful Malaysia expects the takaful industry to outperform the conventional insurers in view of the strong demand in the takaful products.
On Bursa Malaysia today, BIMB closed unchanged at RM4.55 with 498,900 shares traded.
