KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd has reached RM99.7 billion in sustainable financing, nearly achieving its RM100 billion target set for 2024.
CIMB Group CEO Novan Amirudin said the bank’s strong commitment to sustainability has driven them to exceed their initial targets ahead of schedule.
“I am very pleased to announce that we are very close to achieving RM100 billion with five months still remaining,” Novan said during CIMB Group 1H’24 financial result briefing.
Novan said sustainability is not just a target for Cimb, it is a core value that guides its overall strategy.
He highlighted that CIMB is the first Malaysian bank to announce emission targets across six sectors.
“We have clinically gone and analysed our portfolio, what our customers want for all these 6 high-emitting sectors and we have gone out to announce our targets. So that shows the level of commitment that we have,” he said.
CIMB Group recorded a net profit of RM3.9 billion for the first half ended June 30, 2024, an increase of 14% compared to RM3.42 billion recorded in the same period last year. Its revenue for the period rose 8.7% to RM11.23 billion versus RM10.33 billion a year ago.
Operating income in 1H’24 was up 8.7% YoY to RM11.23 billion, with net interest income (NII) increasing by 6.7% to RM7.65 billion underpinned by both net interest margin (NIM) and asset growth.
Novan said price discipline and deposit-led strategies to address industry NIM compression in 2023 are starting to pay off, resulting in a second straight quarter of NIM expansion with 7 basis points (bps) in 1H’24.
“1H’24 reflects another positive performance for the group. Our achievement is underpinned by the trust of our customers, collaboration with our partners and continued strong execution of the strategies under our Forward23+ strategic plan, while remaining nimble and responsive to current trends.
“The performance was driven by robust operating income growth, disciplined cost controls and improvement in asset quality, contributed by the group’s diversified Asean portfolio, which serves all client segments. Our strong risk culture also proved to be key in facilitating the group to manage its risks in current volatile markets.
“To strengthen our operational resiliency, we have invested and will continue to invest further in technology, systems and processes to continue providing a secure and seamless banking environment for all our customers.”
Accordingly, the group proposed an all-cash first interim dividend of 20.00 sen per share and a special dividend of 7.00 sen per share.
The interim dividend is based on a payout ratio of 55.0%, based on H1’24 net profit, in line with the Group’s dividend policy.
“We are optimistic for the remainder of the year, while being vigilant and responsive to industry trends such as the global economic headwinds and market volatility which continue to persist,” Novan said.
“Our Forward23+ strategic plan will complete by the end of this year, and we are currently devising our next strategic plan, which we will announce alongside our FY24 results, taking into considerations our endowments, customer needs, trends and competitive landscape.”
“Our commitment to invest in future proofing our business includes sustainability being at the forefront of our overall operations.
We recently announced our 2030 climate targets for our oil and gas and real estate portfolios, in addition to the earlier announced targets for thermal coal mining, cement, palm oil and power, becoming the first Malaysian bank to complete its 2030 decarbonisation target setting in pursuit of our broader 2050 Net Zero commitments.
