KUALA LUMPUR: Affin Bank Bhd’s net profit more than doubled to RM142.69mil in the first quarter ended March 31 (1Q), from RM68.94mil a year ago.

       The improvement was driven by improved net interest income, Islamic banking Income, net fee and commission income in the first quarter.

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       Revenue, however, dipped 1.64% to RM528.82mil in 1Q against RM537.63mil last year.

       President and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Razly Abdullah said: “To date, Affin Group’s ongoing journey of reimagining and transforming its customer service experience known as Metamorphosis and our AIM22 plan bear testament to the group’s improving financial performance where we have achieved certain milestones and targets set.”

       He said while there are currently strong headwinds for the first part of 2022, the group believes that there is potential for business growth as the Malaysian economy revives from the Covid-19 pandemic.

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       “We will continue to improve our operational efficiency and harness group-wide synergy to achieve sustainable growth despite the challenging and competitive operating environment.

       “Based on the group’s AIM22 plan, we are substantially on track with our first quarter numbers. We are optimistic that our action plans in the remaining nine months will result in the group achieving its financial targets for 2022.

       “The group is getting stronger and we aim to be more resilient to withstand market volatility,” Wan Razly said in a statement.

       Its net income for the quarter rose 18.9% to RM229mil as compared to the previous financial quarter of RM192.6mil, mainly due to loan growth in the 1Q.

       It said Affin Islamic Bank is becoming a significant contributor to the group as evidenced by its pretax profit (PBT) which recorded an increase of 15.5% to RM148.9mil due to financing growth, improved net financing margin and lower impairment allowances.

       Affin Islamic Bank’s stronger PBT was due to more robust financing growth which grew 17.4% year-on-year (YoY), improved net financing margin and lower impairment allowances.

       Affin Islamic Bank recorded a significant improvement of asset quality of 0.61% in gross impaired financing to 1.05% in 1Q compared to 1.66% in 1Q21.

       As of March 31, Affin’s total loans, advances and financing grew by 13.8% YoY to RM53.5bil contributed mainly by the 18.8% growth in the community banking segment.

       Housing loans grew by 20.4%, whilst auto finance loans rose by 9.1%.

       On the deposits, CASA (current account savings account) was recorded at RM13.4bil for the quarter ended March 31 and CASA ratio stood at 21.55%.

       The group’s customer deposits increased by 22.9% YoY to RM62.3bil as of March 31.

       The gross impaired loan (GIL) ratio for the group recorded a significant improvement of 2.43% as compared to 3.41% last year.

       As at March 31, the group’s total capital ratio was at 18.69%, Tier 1 capital ratio at 15.29% and CET1 capital ratio at 13.73%.