AMBank profit up 5.9% to $84.93m in Q1

Expenses fell 7% to $125.19m amidst the bank’s efficiency programme.

AmBank opened the financial year on stable footing after the bank's profits rose 5.9% to $84.93m (RM348m) in Q1 FY19, according to a media release. 

The bank’s income hit $247.47m (RM1,014m) on the back of higher net interest income which grew 4.7%.

The bank’s expenses also fell 7% to $125.19m (RM513m) to reflects savings from lower headcount and business efficiency initiatives under the BET300 which aims to achieve $73.22m (RM300m) in gross cost savings. As a result, cost-to-income (CTI) ratio improved to 50.6% from 56.3 % in Q1 FY18. 

Loan growth also clocked in at 2.2% YTD. The bank booked a gross impaired loan (GIL) ratio of 1.77%.

“We have just established an e-payment partnership with Digi as we continue to step up to our digital offerings in line with our efforts to drive digital transformation. This strategic tie-up allows our card merchants to accept Digi’s vcash QR code as an additional payment service,” Ambank group CEO Datu Sulaiman said in a statement.