Affin Holdings Q1 earnings up 56% to RM166m

by **hlk** Fri 25 May 2012, 19:29

KUALA LUMPUR: Affin Holdings Bhd's earnings rose 56% to RM66.02mil in the first quarter ended March 31, 2012 from RM106.06mil a year ago, boosted by an improved share of results in an associate, AXA AFFIN General Insurance Bhd.

It said on Friday profit before tax (PBT) was RM213.94mil compared to RM140.30mil a year ago. Revenue rose at a slower pace of 15.6% to Rm722.67mil from RM624.77mil. Earnings per share were 11.11 sen compared with 7.10 sen.

"The improved financial performance was mainly due to the Group's improved share of results in associate, other operating income as well as net interest income which were up by RM18.1mil, RM14.5mil and RM7.8mil respectively," it said.

Affin said there was also a higher write-back of allowance for impairment on securities of RM8.9mil and write back for loans impairment of RM4.1mil as compared to a charge of RM27.1mil a year ago.

The banking group said its 33.6% owned AXA AFFIN General Insurance posted a significantly higher PBT of RM64.5mil from RM1.2mil a year ago.

This was mainly due attributed to higher earned premium as a consequence of significant growth in the quarter and release of unearned premium reserve.

"Included in the share of results in associate of RM19.6mil in the quarter under review was an adjustment of RM3.3mil on under-recognition of the group's share of profit in AXA AFFIN General Insurance in the previous financial year," it said.

Affin chairman Tan Sri Mohd Zahidi Zainuddin said: "The strong results achieved for the quarter were within our expectations and put us in a solid growth path to start the financial year. This is testament to the group's strength and we hope to maintain this momentum for the coming quarters."

The banking group's gross loan outstanding increased by an annualised growth rate of 9.0% during the quarter. The Group's customer deposits also expanded at a strong annualised rate of 11.1% as compared to end December 2011. The loan-to-deposit ratio was stable at 78.6% as at March 31, 2012 as compared to 79.0% as at Dec 31.