SME Bank's financial performance at stable level - AG Report

The auditing conducted on Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Bhd (SME Bank) found that its financial performance was at a stable level, the Auditor-General's Report 2019 Series 1 said.

It said SME Bank's financial performance in 2019 improved by recording a profit before tax and zakat amounting to RM213.86 million against a loss before tax and zakat in 2018.

In addition, total assets exceeded total liabilities for the same period. The current level of liquidity of assets was also good at 2.14: 1, indicating the ability of SME Bank to cover its current liabilities, according to the report released today.

However, SME Bank still recorded accumulated losses amounting to RM383.15 million until Dec 31, 2019.

"SME Bank's cash balance and cash equivalents at end-2019 amounted to RM1.113 billion," the report said.

Overall, it said SME Bank's corporate governance practices were good despite non-compliant Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that needed to be improved to abide by the corporate governance best practice recommendations.

-- BERNAMA