KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): CIMB IB Research has maintained its “Add” rating on RHB Bank Bhd at RM4.91 with a higher target price of RM6.30 (from RM5.96) and said RHB Bank’s 9MFY17 net profit was within expectations at 75% of house full-year forecast and 74% of Bloomberg consensus estimates.

In a note Nov 27, the research house said 9M17 net profit rose by 4.9% yoy due to lower impairment loss.

It said loan growth was stable at 3.3% yoy at end-Sep 17 (versus 3.2% y-o-y at end-Jun 17).

“Gross impaired loan ratio was largely stable q-o-q at 2.31% at end-Sep 17.

“Retain Add, given the benefits from the IGNITE 17 transformation programme and current attractive valuations,” it said.