CIMB’S Forward30 delivers 11.3% ROE in its first year

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (CIMB Group or The Group) held its 69th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on 29 April 2026 at KLGCC Convention Centre.

All 14 ordinary resolutions tabled were successfully passed, and the audited financial statements for the financial year ended 31 December 2025 (FY25) were duly received. 

The AGM and EGM were chaired by the Chairman of CIMB Group, Datuk Syed Zaid Albar, with the Board of Directors and the Group CEO of CIMB Group, Novan Amirudin, in attendance. 

Notwithstanding the challenging operating backdrop in 2025 marked by persistent rate cuts across key markets and heightened FX volatility, CIMB Group remained disciplined and vigilant in the first-year execution of its Forward30 strategy roadmap. 

The strategy is anchored on four key levers: capital reallocation and optimisation, the deepening of cash franchise, stronger cross sell performance and scaling up capabilities to be simpler, better and faster. 

This disciplined execution underpinned another year of strong financial performance and continued value creation for shareholders. 

For FY2025, the Group delivered a record net profit of RM7.9 billion, up 4.2 per cent on a constant currency basis from the preceding year, while annualised return on average equity (ROE) improved to 11.3 per cent, up 10 basis points from 11.2 per cent in 2024. 

CIMB also maintained a strong capital position, with its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio at 14.3 per cent as at Dec-2025. 

During the year, the Group announced an additional RM2 billion capital return programme to shareholders by 2027 and declared a total annual dividend of 47.1 sen per share, which translate into a record total dividend payout of RM5.1 billion.

“The Board remains focused on strong governance and forward-looking oversight to ensure accountability, preserve stakeholder confidence and deliver long-term sustainable value. 

"Anchored by our diversified ASEAN footprint, sound balance sheet and a franchise built on trust, CIMB is well-positioned to participate in the region’s next phase of development. 

"The Board’s mandate is to steward Forward30 with focus and continuity, ensuring that the Group’s strategic ambitions remain grounded in sustainable growth, resilience and disciplined capital allocation.” said Syed Zaid Albar at the AGM.

Meanwhile, Novan Amirudin said, in the first year of Forward30, CIMB not only laid strong foundations for future growth but also delivered another year of record financial performance. This builds on CIMB's consistent track record, generating total shareholder returns of close to 3 times over the past decade, significantly outperforming the broader market. 

"Our long-term value creation has been underpinned by diversified income streams, resilient margins, strong liquidity, and asset quality as well as disciplined capital management. 

"This has enabled us to deliver sustainable returns on equity of 11.3 per cent and consistent dividend distributions, including a special RM2 billion capital return programme announced earlier this year," he added. 

“More importantly, we continue to deepen customer engagement through differentiated, digitally-enabled solutions that are designed around how our customers operate. 

"These include personalised wealth offerings and cashflow-based SME financing accessible through CIMB OCTO and CIMB OCTO Biz, enabling seamless, on-demand access to financial solutions. 

"In parallel, we are advancing next-generation financial infrastructure by exploring tokenisation across payments, settlement and capital markets in partnership with Bank Negara Malaysia and Ant International." 

These efforts are supported by the Group’s continued investment in technology, with more than RM1 billion capital expenditure committed annually to modernise core banking systems, accelerate data and artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, and streamline processes to enhance efficiency at scale. 

Islamic banking remains a key growth pillar for the Group. In Malaysia, CIMB is expanding investment access to the banking sector for syariah-compliant investors by piloting Islamic capital market products in collaboration with the Securities Commission Malaysia and Bursa Malaysia. 

At the same time, the planned spin-off of CIMB Niaga Syariah is expected to strengthen its position as the number two syariah bank in Indonesia. 

In line with CIMB's purpose of advancing customers and society, its success is not only measured by financial performance, but also by the impact we create. 

CIMB has pledged RM200 million to the society by 2030, representing an increase of more than 30 per cent from the previous five years. 

This includes initiatives such as iTEKAD which has benefitted more than 800 micro-entrepreneurs and our participation in the Santuni MADANI programme - supporting more than 9,000 residents across four adopted communities, and 10 schools benefitting over 2,000 students. 

"We will continue our nation-building efforts by empowering communities to participate more inclusively in the economy.

"As we move into the next phase of Forward30, we remain relentlessly focused on execution to deliver enhanced shareholder value, supported by disciplined investments to build a stronger, more resilient CIMB, as we work towards our ambition to become the top-of-mind ASEAN bank by 2030,” Novan concluded