Net interest income, Indon ops boost Maybank earnings

Saturday November 13, 2010

Net interest income, Indon ops boost Maybank earnings

PETALING JAYA: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) posted a 16.6% rise in net profit to RM1.03bil for the first quarter ended Sept 30 compared with the same quarter last year due to an increase in net interest income and expansion of Indonesian operations.

The bank said in an announcement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday that revenue was 9.56% higher at RM5bil.

Maybank said the 9% or RM146.9mil increase in net interest income was mainly due to improvements in operations from higher net interest income margin in the Malaysian operations arising from increases in the overnight policy rate as well as the expansion of Indonesian operations.

It added that net income from the insurance business, which increased by 20.5% or RM88.8mil, was due to lower claims incurred.

It said income from Islamic banking operations decreased by 11.3% to RM338.2mil due to higher provision for profit equalisation reserves in the Islamic business, which was mitigated by an increase in the growth of assets that increased gross income.

Non-interest income was 1.8% higher at RM1bil compared with the previous corresponding quarter due to contributions from realised gain arising from sale of securities of RM36.4mil and higher loans-related income of RM35.4mil.

The bank said this was mitigated by a fall in commission, service charges and fees amounting and foreign exchange loss.

It added that allowance for losses on loans, advances and financing decreased by 36.6% to RM264.7mil mainly due to higher recovery during the period.

Overhead expenses increased by 4.4% to RM1.55bil mainly due to higher personnel costs which were mitigated by a decline in establishment and marketing costs as well as lower administration and general expenses, it said, adding that personnel costs increased by 23.1% to RM832.7mil due to the timing of crediting of salary in arrears and cost of living allowances arising from the conclusion of the new staff collective agreement.

The bank said although loans and debt securities grew by 4.4% on an annualised basis, this was expected to gain momentum towards meeting the target of 12%, particularly for the global wholesale banking and Malaysian consumer portfolio.

Meanwhile, Maybank president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said in a press release that the bank would focus on key markets across the region where there were significant opportunities to bring its unique brand of products and facilities to stakeholders.

“This quarter’s results continue to bear testimony to the group-wide transformation efforts that we have embarked on since 2008,” he added.

Abdul Wahid said the bank had made significant progress in the Indonesian operations, where loans growth was ahead of target at 30% and Singapore, which was on target at 5%.

“With increasing organisational confidence in our transformation journey, we’ll accelerate our growth efforts, leveraging synergies, enhancing productivities and shortening customer turnaround times in our preferred segments,” he said.

Abdul Wahid said barring unforeseen circumstances, the bank’s performance for the financial year ended June 30, 2011 (FY11) was expected to be better than FY10 and on track to meet the targeted 14% return on equity.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/11/13/business/7419005&sec=business