Islamic Bank Bhd expects to increase its home financing by the end of next year by another RM1 billion via its newly launched Equity Home Financing-i.

"We stand at RM1.8 billion right now and we hope to increase another RM1 billion which will make it RM2.8 billion," its managing director, Jamelah Jamaluddin said at the launch here today.

She said the new product will be available at all RHB branches and marketing centres nationwide, plus its five stand-alone branches which are expected to be opened at the Klang Valley, Johor and Penang in the first quarter of next year.

"The bank expects Equity Home Financing-i to do particularly well in targeted high growth areas such as Klang Valley, Johor, Penang, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu," said Jamelah.

With the new product, the bank also expects to see a 10 percent rise in the contribution of its consumer banking to the bank's pre-tax profit next year.

Currently, consumer banking contributes about 30 to 40 percent to RHB Islamic bank's pre-tax profit, said Jamelah.

"RHB Islamic Bank consumer banking contributes about 10 percent to the RHB Group profit before tax and we hope to increase it to 20 percent by 2009," she added.

On the new product, she said it was suitable for individuals seeking at acquiring completed residences and commercial properties.

"The product is based on the concept of diminishing partnership, where the customer and the bank enter into a co-ownership agreement to acquire and own the asset with the view to progressively reduce the ownership of one partner (the bank) until the other Musharakah partner (the customer) finally holds the full ownership of the asset," said Jamelah.