CIMB Bank PH expects to double profit this year

CIMB BANK Philippines, Inc. (CIMB Bank PH) expects to double its profit this year as it looks to launch new features and services on its platform.

“We expect to double [our profit] in 2025 from 2024. So, the growth trajectory will still be quite strong. And as the business matures, we would be able to grow at an aggressive pace,” CIMB Bank PH Chief Executive Officer Vijay Manoharan told reporters on Monday.

The digital-only commercial bank earlier said its profit before tax for 2024 grew by 45 times year on year as it continued to expand its customer base. It did not give a specific income figure.

Mr. Manoharan said CIMB Bank PH’s profit growth this year will be driven by the continued expansion of its customer base as it taps new segments and launches new products.

“The more products we launch, the more we’re able to tailor the different products to the big base that we have,” he said.

CIMB Bank PH expects its customer base to breach the 10-million mark by the end of the year. At end-2024, its customers stood at over nine million, it earlier said.

CIMB Pay, which allows its mobile app users to pay using QR codes, will also drive customer growth, Mr. Manoharan said, adding that he expects the recently launched feature to bring the bank about P300 million in monthly transactions.

“My goal is for us to be able to do P300 million to P400 million very soon and grow from there. That is where we intend to get ourselves to, at a steady state. Of course, now it’s still new, but it is realistic,” he said.

“I would hope at least a million customers that we have (use the product) daily,” he added.

The bank recorded P800 billion in transactions at end-2024.

CIMB Bank PH was recently recognized as the best digital bank in the Philippines in 2024 by The Asian Banker and part of the top 100 digital banks globally.

“Asian Banker is known to have quite a rigorous selection process. Across these five [indicators] — customer, product relevance, balance sheet growth, financial stability, and growth, and lastly funding — they measured across all these five indicators, and we were selected. We’re very proud,” Mr. Manoharan said.

CIMB Bank PH broke even in 2023, based on the CIMB Group’s annual report posted on its website.

CIMB Group is based in Malaysia and offers consumer, commercial, wholesale, and Islamic banking, as well as wealth management and digital payment products and services across Southeast Asia.

CIMB Bank is the group’s commercial bank in Malaysia, which has subsidiaries in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and branches in the Philippines, China, Singapore, and London. — A.M.C. Sy