- AMP (AMP) shares are on the rise after the company released a financial update for the March quarter, showing signs of business improvement
- The financial services giant saw its bank’s loan book increase by $200 million during the quarter to $24.2 billion
- Elsewhere, its wealth management business saw assets under management boosted by $2 billion to $126.2 billion
- The signs are encouraging for AMP as it continues its quest to regain public trust following its damaged reputation from the 2018 Royal Commission into the financial services industry in Australia
- AMP shares are up 3.2 per cent and trading at $1.13 at 3:16 pm AEST
AMP (AMP) shares were on the rise on Wednesday after the company revealed signs of business improvement in a financial update for the March quarter.
The financial services giant saw its bank’s loan book increase by $200 million for the quarter to total $24.2 billion.
“We continue to take an active approach to managing the bank’s loan book, being disciplined in our growth in a highly competitive market to maintain strong credit quality and margin,” AMP Chief Executive Alexis George commented.
“We are conscious of the impact of rising interest rates on customers and continue to focus on providing competitive loan and deposit rates.”
Elsewhere, the company’s wealth management business saw net cash outflows of around $600 million in Q1 2023 — an improvement of more than 30 per cent from the roughly $900 million outflows in the first quarter of 2022.
AMP’s Australian Wealth Management (AWM) arm saw its assets under management boosted by $2 billion in the quarter to reach $126.2 billion, reflecting positive investment markets and partly offset by net cash outflows and pension payments.
The company added that its platforms business saw inflows from independent financial advisers (IFA) up 30 per cent in the first quarter of 2022.
AMP’s New Zealand Wealth Management arm, KiwiSaver, reported net cashflows of $44 million in the March quarter — up from $10 million in Q1 2022.
The financial services giant said the sale of its final capital business last month narrowed its focus on the performance of its banking and wealth management businesses moving forward.
“At the same time, we are progressing our capital and balance sheet review, as well as determining the appropriate operating model and cost base for the business going forward,” Ms George added.
AMP has been vying to regain public trust after the giant’s wrongdoings were exposed during the 2018 Royal Commission into the financial services industry in Australia.
Royal Commission woes
Back in 2018, the Royal Commission investigated a range of issues across the financial sector, including misconduct in banking, superannuation, financial advice, insurance, and other financial services.
The commission exposed a series of wrongdoings from AMP and the big four banks.
The commission found that AMP had been involved in misconduct by charging customers fees for services they did not receive, making false statements to the regulator, and attempting to mislead the regulator during an investigation.
It also found that AMP had a culture of putting profits over the interests of customers. As a result of the findings, a number of senior executives at AMP resigned, and the company’s reputation diminished significantly.
Since then, shares in AMP have dropped more than 70 per cent across the past five years, but positively for investors, shares are up nearly 15 per cent over the past month — perhaps signalling operations are back in order.
On Wednesday, AMP shares were up 3.2 per cent and trading at $1.13 at 3:16 pm AEST.