AmBank to grow Islamic offerings, SME business for FY 2016

Kuala Lumpur: AMMB Holdings Bhd (Ambank Group) aims to further grow its Islamic offerings and small medium enterprise (SME) business for the financial year ending March 31, 2016 (FY 2016), says Chief Financial Officer, Mandy Simpson.She said more assets and initiatives would be allocated to the Islamic banking and SME segments in FY2016.

The group recently underwent a rebranding exercise, with its former AmIslamic Bank, now known as AmBank Islamic Bhd.

The rebranding was aimed at positioning the Islamic brand more prominently within the finance industry.

"AmBank's share of Islamic offerings is expected to further expand to 33 per cent in FY2016, compared to 32 per cent and 30 per cent in FY2015 and FY2014, respectively," Mandy told a press conference here in conjunction with the group's announcement of its full FY2015 results.

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AmBank Group recorded a higher pre-tax profit of RM2.604 billion for the financial year ended March 31, 2015, up 6.3 per cent compared with RM2.448 billion recorded in 2014.

Profit after tax rose 9.3 per cent and crossed the RM2 billion mark to reach RM2.044 billion against RM1.871 billion previously, underpinned by non-interest income and lower allowances.

This was on the back of revenue that fell to RM9.142 billion during the period under review, against RM9.606 billion previously, which Mandy attributed to the group's repositioning on the loans side.

However in FY2015, AmBank Group's loan growth contracted by 1.6 per cent, she said, due to the group's policy of de-risking its auto finance portfolio.

The group is expected to have a business growth of 4-5 per cent for FY2016, in line with the target of loans growth of between 4-5 per cent too for the year.

On profit after tax and minority interests (PATMI) for FY2016, Mandy said the group's key performance indicator was set to be around 3-5 per cent and return on equity (ROE) at between 12-12.5 per cent.

"Business as usual," she said, in commenting on the group's status, while it tries to identify a new group managing director.

Datuk Mohamed Azmi Mahmood has been the acting Group Managing Director, from April 2, taking over from Ashok Ramamurthy whose contract ended on April 1.

"The FY2015-17 strategic agenda remains unchanged," said Mohamed Azmi.

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He was referring to the group's agenda of delivering on focused organic growth, leveraging on strategic partnerships and delivering on acquisitions, continuing to optimise efficiency and building sustainability.

"We will continue to focus on sustainable risk-adjusted returns, enhance productivity, improve credit quality and manage liquidity to deliver on our FY2016 aspirations," said Mohamed Azmi. – Bernama

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