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PETALING JAYA : CIMB Group Holdings Bhd today announced that the Group achieved a profit before tax (PBT) of RM2.24 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 up 9.2% year-on-year (yoy) from RM2.05 billion recorded in the first quarter ended March 31, 2022.
The Group’s net profit also grew by 15.3% YoY to RM1.64 billion driven by sustained operating income growth, strong cost controls and contained level of provisions.
Meanwhile, its annualised return on average equity (ROE) was 10.3% for the quarter, as compared to 9.6% recorded in 1Q22, and earnings per share (EPS) stood at 15.4 sen.
CIMB’s total gross loans increased 7.4% YoY across key markets and segments, especially in Indonesia which grew 10.1% YoY. Deposits also increased by 6.1% YoY, while total CASA declined due to greater consumer spending on the back of post pandemic growth in economic activity, as well as the migration to higher yield term deposit which led to a lower CASA ratio of 37.9%.
The Group’s cost-to-income ratio (CIR) improved YoY to 46.9%, as 1Q23 operating expenses rose 2.9% YoY due to absence of one off non-recurring expenses recorded in prior year. Total provisions were contained, rising only 5.0% to RM445 million despite the absence of recoveries in 1Q22.
The Group’s capital position remains strong and above target with its common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio at 14.3% as at March 2023.
“Our positive 1Q23 performance was contributed by robust NOII expansion, strong loan growth momentum across all segments of our business and sustained asset quality and cost discipline. Further, we are pleased with the strong performance and contribution growth from Indonesia, reflecting the positive trajectory and impact of our focused Asean strategy,” said CIMB’s Group CEO, Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad in a statement in conjunction with the release of the results.
CIMB Group’s total gross loans increased by 7.4% YoY to RM413.2 billion and total deposits by 6.1% yoy to RM467.9 billion. The Group registered a loan-to-deposit (LDR) ratio of 88.3% as at March 2023, an improvement of 1.1% yoy.
The Group’s allowance coverage stood at 94.2%, whilst the gross impaired loan (GIL) ratio was steady at 3.2%, with an annualised 1Q23 loan loss charge of 37 basis points (bps).
The Group remains well-capitalised with its CET1 ratio maintaining comfortably above target at 14.3% and total capital ratio stood at 18.0% as at Mar-23. The liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) remains comfortably above the regulatory requirement of 100% for all banking entities within the Group.
“With intensified focus to collectively combat scams, we are further committed to implementing the necessary security initiatives as mandated by Bank Negara Malaysia to safeguard against financial scams with the recent mandatory customer call verification process for all first-time app logins and SecureTAC authorisation for all financial and key non-financial transactions, with additional measures to be introduced progressively throughout the year. This is part of our efforts to increase and enhance the resiliency of our digital platforms through further investments, whilst improving greater uptime performance and building up platform reliability,” added Abdul Rahman.
