CIMB Q4 profit up 3.5%, beating forecasts

Hong Kong

MALAYSIAN lender CIMB Group Holdings Bhd on Tuesday beat expectations with a 3.5 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit and said it was optimistic about business prospects in 2017, based on improved loan growth and lower costs.

The net profit in the December quarter at CIMB, the second largest lender by assets in Malaysia, was bolstered by an 8.7 per cent increase in credit demand in its home market as well as in neighbouring Indonesia and Thailand.