KUALA LUMPUR (March 18): AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank Group) said it will record an estimated net gain of RM229.94 million from the disposal of AmBank (M) Bhd's and AmBank Islamic Bhd's non-performing loans (NPLs) to Aiqon Capital Group Sdn Bhd's special purpose vehicles (SPVs), which has been completed.

The related party transaction was announced on Jan 3, when it said AmBank (M) Bhd and AmBank Islamic Bhd's NPLs totalling RM553.91 million would be sold to the SPVs.

Aiqon is controlled by Ibrahim Hussain, the son-in-law of AmBank Group's substantial shareholder, Tan Sri Azman Hashim.

The disposal is part of the group's debt recovery strategy to strengthen both AmBank and AmBank Islamic's respective loan/financing management, resolution processes and to monetise the portfolios, which comprise 537,068 accounts.

The group previously said that proceeds from the proposed disposal would be used by AmBank and AmBank Islamic for working capital within one year of the transaction's completion.

"The net gain from the proposed disposal is expected to enhance the earnings per share and net asset per share of AMMB by 7.6 sen per share," Ambank Group said in its filing today.

Shares of Ambank Group fell two sen or 0.43% to close at RM4.58, giving it a market capitalisation of RM13.81 billion. The counter saw some 2.61 million shares traded.