Maybank Investment raised the target price of Islamic lender BIMB Holdings to RM2.95 per share from RM2.55 on higher valuations and rising profitability.

The investment bank said it expects Bank Islam net profit to rise in 2012-2013 due to an upward revision in fee incomes.

There is also growth potential from its Indonesian operations, which are still in their infancy, Maybank Investment said.

"We expect Bank Islam to register relatively healthy return on equity of 12.6 percent in 2012 and 13 percent in 2013," Maybank Investment analyst Desmond Ch'ng said in a note to clients.

"Coupled with the fact that the bank still has much room to gear up given it is well capitalised and has a highly liquid balance sheet, the higher valuations are justified." -- Reuters