AmBank hikes payout after record 1H

PETALING JAYA: AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank) has delivered a record first-half (1H26) net profit of RM1.05bil for the financial year 2026 (FY26) on the back of stronger growth in gross loans.

For 1H26, the group’s gross loans, advances, and financing grew 4.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM140.5bil, underpinned by improved performance in wholesale banking and business banking.

This was a stronger showing than the 2.8% y-o-y growth recorded for 1H25.

On a year-to-date (y-t-d) basis, total gross loans, advances, and financing rose 1.2% to RM140.5bil, driven by RM2.1bil of loans growth from business banking, partly offset by repayment of certain wholesale banking loans.

AmBank said net profit for the period increased 5% y-o-y to RM1.05bil, with annualised return-on-equity at 10.1% while return-on-assets improved to 1.06%.

Net income grew 7.3% to RM2.58bil in 1H26, driven by higher net interest income (NII) on the back of net interest margin (NIM) expansion and higher non-interest income (NoII).

NII rose 5% y-o-y to RM1.85bil in 1H26, driven by a y-o-y NIM expansion to 1.99%.

NoII was 13.5% higher y-o-y at RM731.7mil in 1H26, largely driven by higher trading gains in securities from group treasury and markets, more than offsetting the decline in fee income from investment banking and group wealth management.

For the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2025 (2Q26), net profit rose 7% y-o-y to RM534.58mil on higher income, loan growth and lower impairment charges.

The bank said it managed its NIM well despite seeing some impact from the overnight policy rate cut in July 2025.

In line with stronger earnings, the group declared a higher interim dividend of 12.5 sen per share, up from 10.3 sen last year.

The dividend is payable on Dec 30, with an ex-date of Dec 10. This raises the payout ratio to 39%, compared with 34% in the corresponding period last year.

Group chief executive officer Jamie Ling said the 21% y-o-y increase in interim dividend per share reflects “our confidence in our prospects despite a more challenging macro and geopolitical backdrop”.

By segment, the group’s performance was mixed, with stronger wholesale banking income and large impairment writebacks, helping to offset softer retail banking performance and higher net impairment charges in the business banking segment.

Wholesale banking posted a 51.4% y-o-y increase in net profit to RM643.4mil, as income rose 38.2% y-o-y and net impairment writebacks strengthened to RM197.7mil from RM126.6mil in 1H25, following the resolution of a large corporate debt restructuring.

Loans in the division grew 11.6% y-o-y and its gross impaired loans (GIL) ratio improved to 0.42% y-o-y.

Retail banking remained under pressure, with net profit falling 57% y-o-y to RM44mil on lower income, higher operating costs and increased net impairment charges.

Income dropped 4.8% y-o-y to RM690.5mil due to a decline in NII from margin compression in deposits and mortgage, as well as weaker retail wealth management activity.

Net impairment charges rose 12.4% y-o-y on higher forward-looking provisions, while deposits in the segment grew 8% y-o-y. The GIL ratio edged up to 1.8%.

Business banking earnings declined 24.8% y-o-y to RM290mil as expenses and provisions increased.

Net impairment charges jumped to RM178.1mil from RM90.1mil in 1H25, due to a higher RM99.3mil small and medium enterprise overlay to strengthen buffers.

Deposits fell 0.8% y-o-y and the GIL ratio rose to 2.24% y-o-y, while income remained broadly flat at RM867.4mil.

Investment banking, funds management and private banking posted a 49.2% y-o-y drop in net profit to RM35mil on weaker stockbroking activity, softer deal flows and cautious investor sentiment.

Segment income fell 14% y-o-y to RM169.3mil, while funds management delivered stable profit, and average assets under management (including private banking) rose 2.7% y-o-y to RM64.5bil.

On a whole, AmBank’s operating expenses rose 7.7% y-o-y to RM1.13bil, mainly on higher personnel costs.

Cost-to-income ratio remained largely unchanged at 43.8% in 1H26 compared with 43.6% a year earlier.

Profit before provisions increased 7% to RM1.45bil. The group’s GIL ratio widened to 1.75%, driven largely by business banking, while loan-loss coverage ratio including regulatory reserves stood at 100.4%.

Total customer deposits fell 1.1% y-t-d to RM140bil as current account/savings account balances declined 5.2% y-t-d to RM48.3bil, partly offset by a 1.3% rise in time deposits to RM91.7bil. Customer deposits grew 2.7% y-o-y, supported by gains in retail banking (+8%) and corporate and transaction banking (+22.4%).

Looking ahead, Ling said the group remains vigilant in monitoring its asset quality and that he is confident that AmBank will grow in tandem with Malaysia’s economy.