AMMB's FY25 results meet expectations with strong Q4 performance
KUALA LUMPUR: AMMB Holdings Bhd's financial year 2025 (FY25) results and dividends were within expectations as fourth quarter (Q4) FY24 earnings uplift came from expansion in net interest margin as well as loans and financing growth.
AMMB posted a Q4 FY25 net profit of RM514 million, lifting the full-year sum to RM2 billion.
RHB Research said AMMB's FY25 results were in line and marked a strong start to the group's Winning Together 5-year strategy.
This formed 101 per cent and 102 per cent of the firm's and consensus' estimates, it said in a note.
On dividends, the firm said AMMB declared a 19.9 sen final dividend per share (DPS), lifting the FY25 total to 30.2 sen, or a 50 per cent dividend payout ratio (DPR).
"The FY25 DPS was a substantial 34 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase and came in ahead of our initial 27 sen/45 per cent dividend payout ratio (DPR) forecasts.
"Post dividends, the group's CET-1 ratio remains healthy at 14.8 per cent, a significant uplift from the 13.3 per cent recorded in FY24," it said.
Meanwhile, RHB Research reported that AMMB considers its direct exposure to customers heavily reliant on U.S. trade as minimal, with no significant provision charges anticipated.
According to the firm, the management believes that any secondary impact would likely appear through reduced customer activity and delayed capital expenditure decisions, although these effects have yet to materialise.
"Management also remarked that its exposure to US-heavy trade clients is small, easing earlier concerns we had on the group.
"However, our Neutral call is maintained, in line with our large-cap-focused, defensive-first sector strategy.
"Our FY26 and FY27 forecasts are trimmed slightly by 2 per cent each, as we factor in less aggressive net interest margin (NIM) assumptions. Our target price is kept at RM5.70," it added.
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