KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd is targeting loan growth of around 5-6 per cent for FY2026, with strong demand from the data centre and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors supporting its wholesale business.
CIMB Group chief executive officer Novan Amirudin said the wholesale segment continued to outperform the consumer and commercial segments, while consumer banking growth remained broadly in line with gross domestic product (GDP).
“Consumer banking is growing in line with GDP. To me, that is a good sign because it shows that people are still spending,” he said at a post-results briefing.
Novan said commercial banking growth was slower, although loan approvals had increased, with the lag in disbursements attributed to a timing issue.
“On the commercial banking side, growth is slower than wholesale and consumer. However, loan approvals are up.
“I see this slightly as a timing issue. Loan disbursements for commercial banking are down despite loan approvals being up. Normally, from the time of approval to disbursement, it takes some time. We expect that to basically decrease in the second half,” he said.
On asset quality, Novan said the group’s gross impaired loan (GIL) ratio is expected to remain stable, although some pockets may see a slight increase in impaired loans due to indirect exposure to West Asia pressures.
“We do see other pockets of improvement, but there could be some areas where we are more exposed indirectly to the West Asia pressure, where we might see some small pick-up in impaired loans. However, the overall group number should be relatively stable,” he said.
CIMB’s asset quality remained broadly stable, with its GIL ratio at an all-time low of 1.6 per cent as at June 2026. – BERNAMA
