The Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad Group records Profit Before Tax of RM23.6 million at the end of its first quarter ended 31 March 2018, over three folds more than the RM5.5 million of Q1 2017. Even after normalising the one-off bad debt recovery of RM12 million, the Group still registered a PBT of RM11.6 million, more than double the RM5.5 million from the same period last year. This was largely driven by the marked improvements in profitability on the back of higher net brokerage and management fee income.
Datuk Chay Wai Leong, Group Managing Director, Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad says, “We are cautiously optimistic that the Group will continue to record satisfactory performance in 2018. Given the strong fundamentals of the Malaysian capital markets, we believe that our core businesses of Equity Broking and Investment Banking will continue to grow in 2018.”
Its Equity Broking business recorded RM11.8 million in 1Q18 as compared to RM9.7 million in 1Q17 as net brokerage fee income increased from RM21.6 million to RM23.0 million. This is due to higher trading value on the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange which recorded RM357.7 billion for current quarter compared to RM309.3 billion for corresponding quarter in the previous year. Its joint venture, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd which has only been in operations since last May, has exceeded over 10,000 accounts opened and continues to gain traction.
The Group’s Investment Banking division registered a higher PBT of RM2.7 million in 1Q18 mainly due to higher interest income and investment banking fees income. The favorable result helped offset the lower trading and investment income from treasury activities. The Investment and Wealth Management divisions registered a lower loss before tax LBT of RM1.5 million compared to 1Q17: LBT of RM2.1million due to higher management fee income arising from an increase in total Assets under Management from RM8.2 billion to RM8.4 billion.
