KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 19): PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk, the Indonesian banking arm of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, booked a net profit of IDR3.65 trillion (RM1.1 billion) for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2019 (FY19), up 4.68% from IDR 3.48 trillion in FY18.

The increase was mainly supported by an 11.6% growth in non-interest income, while net interest income also came in higher in the period.

Net interest income grew 4.6% and supported improvement in net interest margin to 5.31%, from 5.12% in FY18. Total loans grew 3.1% on-year to IDR194.2 trillion, mainly from growth in the consumer segment.

Earnings per share (EPS) rose to IDR146.21, from IDR139.67 in FY18, CIMB Niaga said in a filing.

Growth in its FY19 profit was slightly dampened by expenses of IDR359 billion arising from the mutual separation scheme exercise in 3Q19, it said.

CIMB Niaga’s capital adequacy ratio remained healthy at 21.47% as at end last year.

“Our cost-to-income ratio improved to below 50%. Despite the challenging market environment, provision expenses rose moderately by 7.5% year-on-year with loan loss coverage (LLC) improving to 113.6%,” said CIMB Niaga.

“We maintained strong leadership in mortgages as the segment grew 12.5% y-o-y, while credit card loans rose 12.8% y-o-y driven by our expanding merchant acquiring business,” said CIMB Niaga president director Tigor M Siahaan.

Total third party deposits stood at IDR195.6 trillion with the current account-saving account (CASA) ratio standing at 55.35%. Savings account grew 8.8% on-year, the bank said.

In the sharia banking segment, CIMB Niaga's Islamic Business Unit saw total financing of IDR33.1 trillion, up 24.9% y-o-y, with third-party deposits rising 37.5% to IDR32.6 trillion at end-2019.

On Bursa Malaysia, CIMB’s share price slid one sen or 0.2% to RM4.95, giving it a market capitalisation of RM49.12 billion.