CIMB Group profit up 11% to $328.38m in Q1

Lower opex and provisions buoyed quarterly earnings.

The net profit of CIMB Group rose 11% YoY to $328.38m (RM1.31b) in Q1 as operating expenses and loan loss provisions declined.

A $38.1m (RM152m) gain from the disposal of 50% of CIMB Securities International also made its contribution the group's quarterly earnings. 

“Our capital position is solid even after adoption of MFRS9, with a CET1 of 11.7%. The cost to income ratio improved to 49.8%, below our 50% year-end target, as operating expenses remained under control across all segments,” said CIMB Group CEO Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz.

Total gross loans (excluding bad bank loans) grew by 0.5% YoY led by its core markets in Malaysia and Indonesia whilst total deposits also rose 2.7%.

“Plans to complete our presence in all 10 ASEAN countries are well on track, with our digital banking launch in Vietnam and the opening of our first branch in the Philippines. We expect continued growth momentum in Malaysia with further improvement in loan growth and asset quality across Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore,” he added.

The latest earnings figure translates into a net earnings per share of 14.2 sen and an annualised return on average equity of 10.2%.