KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 (Bernama) — CIMB Group Holdings Berhad (“CIMB Group” or the “Group”) today reported a Profit Before Tax (“PBT”) of RM5.97 billion for financial year 2019 (“FY19”), translating to a net Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) of 47 sen. This was underpinned by stronger operating income and steady loan growth. The Group declared a second interim net dividend of 12 sen per share to be paid via cash. For FY19, the total dividend amounted to 26 sen per share or RM2.55 billion, translating to a significantly higher dividend payout ratio of 56% (cf. 42% in FY18).
Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz, Group CEO, CIMB Group said, “Our FY19 performance came in within our expectations amidst numerous macro challenges. As we had communicated, 2019 would be a year of investments under Forward23 and we are happy to see these investments beginning to bear fruit. We are also pleased that our underlying operating income showed robust growth underpinned by respectable loan growth in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Commercial banking in particular, posted a strong performance, with PBT up 87%, driven partly by its double-digit business loan growth of 12.9% in Malaysia. I am also happy to note that for Malaysia, we are on track in disbursing our RM15-billion allocation to SMEs, and in assisting the B40 through our RM12-billion allocation for financing and related products.”