AmBank Group's pre-tax profit up in Q3

The AmBank Group experienced a surge in pre- tax profit for the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2012 to to RM504.31 million.

The group had RM470.37 million in the same period in 2011.

Revenue for the quarter rose to RM2.1 billion from RM1.8 billion previously.

Group managing director, Ashok Ramamurthy, said the underlying growth came from the improved asset quality in retail banking, strong income and deposits growth in business and corporate and institutional banking, in addition to improved underwriting profits in general insurance.

"The improved financial fundamentals, particularly in asset quality and capitalisation, have resulted in Moody's recent upgrade of AmBank's credit ratings to Baa1/P-2 with a stable outlook," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the acquisition of MBF Cards (M'sia) Sdn Bhd, a credit card issuer with one of the largest merchant networks, in December last year lifted Ambank to the top three position, from 11th position previously, in terms of merchants acquiring business.

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