KUALA LUMPUR: Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd’s net profit jumped to RM572.82mil for the financial year ended March 31, 2022 (FY22) from RM358.78mil in the preceding year.

       This is largely due to higher revenue from net interest income and lower allowance for expected credit losses.

       In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the bank said revenue for the year was slightly higher at RM1.87bil compared with RM1.82bil previously, while basic earnings per share rose to 37 sen from 23.18 sen previously.

       Alliance Bank has declared a second interim dividend of 10.2 sen per share for FY22, bringing the total dividend for the financial year to 18.5 sen per share, which represented a dividend payout ratio of 50%.

       In a separate statement, the bank said its net interest income improved 8.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM1.48bil in FY22 while client-based fee income (excluding brokerage income) increased by 3.5% y-o-y.

       Pre-provision operating profit grew to RM1.04bil, exceeding the RM1bil mark for the second year.

       In FY22, the bank grew its loans by 4.6% y-o-y. Small and medium enterprise loans increased by 12.4% y-o-y, twice as fast as the industry, while corporate and commercial loans rose 9.5% y-o-y due to higher loan utilisation.

       Current account savings account (CASA) deposits grew 3.4% y-o-y, attributable to the increased opening of Alliance SavePlus Accounts, which contributed towards an improved CASA ratio of 48.9%, maintaining the bank at the top of the industry.

       Alliance Bank said its capital positions remained strong with Common Equity Tier-1 ratio standing at 16.0%, Tier-1 Capital ratio was at 16.9% and total capital ratio at 21%.

       Meanwhile, loan-to-fund ratio stood at 87.2%, and liquidity coverage ratio was at 155.1%.

       Digital transactions increased by 35% y-o-y, and now constitutes 75% of total customer transactions, it added. — Bernama