KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd’s (BIMB) net profit for its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) fell 1.62% to RM140.54 million or 6.2 sen per share, against RM142.86 million or 6.63 sen per share a year ago on the back of lower total net income and higher overheads.

Quarterly revenue increased 22% to RM1.14 billion in 3QFY2023, from RM933.18 million last year, the country’s biggest standalone Islamic bank’s filing showed.

BIMB announced a single-tier interim cash dividend of 12.59 sen per share — up from 10.4 sen per share last year — amounting to RM285.39 million.

In the quarter, the banking group saw higher overheads, mainly due to higher promotion expenses and general expenses, as well as higher net allowance for impairment on financing.

Net profit for the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2023 (9MFY2023) grew 7.88% to RM394.77 million from RM365.93 million in the same period last year, while revenue rose 32.96% to RM3.36 billion from RM2.53 billion, driven by an improvement in healthy loan growth and net income.

The bank's total assets grew year-on-year (y-o-y) by 2.2% to RM88.1 billion as at end-September 2023, spurred by financing and investment securities growth.

Its gross financing grew by 8.4% y-o-y to RM67.3 billion, while customer deposits and investment accounts rose 2.3% y-o-y to RM73.9 billion, on the back of higher total current and saving accounts and transactional investment accounts (Casatia) of RM28.5 billion.

BIMB’s total capital ratio stood at 20%, while the gross impaired financing ratio improved to 0.97% as at end-September 2023, as compared with 1.27% at end-December 2022, which it said is better than the industry average of 1.72%.

Moving forward, BIMB said that it will prioritise implementing strategies to preserve its net income margin and refine its financial solutions amid the competitive industry landscape to fortify its financial performance and resiliency.

"In response to shifting banking preferences, BIMB remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering cutting-edge shariah-compliant solutions that align with modern lifestyles. The group continues improving and broadening its digital banking services and offerings," it said.

BIMB shares settled up four sen or 1.82% to RM2.24 on Tuesday (Nov 28), valuing the group at RM5.08 billion.