[HONG KONG] CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, the second-largest lender by assets in Malaysia, on Tuesday reported a 3.5 per cent increase in fourth-quarter net profit, helped by a surge in loan demand in its home market as well as in Indonesia and Thailand.
The bank's net profit for the quarter ended in December 2016 was RM854.4 million (S$270 million), up from RM825.7 million a year earlier, the lender said in a filing to the stock exchange.
Malaysian lenders including Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), the country's largest lender by assets, and CIMB have benefited from cost cutting and stronger demand for corporate loans in the domestic market.
Maybank last week reported a 43 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit on loan growth and a rise in investment income, and forecast stronger loan growth in its core markets of Malaysia and Indonesia.
REUTERS