KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Building Society Bhd
(MBSB), which seeks to turn into a full-fledged Islamic bank through a proposed merger with Asian Finance Bank Bhd, reported a 44.6% jump in second-quarter (Q2) net profit to RM91.08mil.
The improvement was mainly due to higher operating profit and lower allowances for impairment losses on loans, advances and financing, the non-bank lender told Bursa Malaysia.
Among the various operating business segments, only gross income from corporate loans and financing showed year-on-year growth.
Revenue for Q2 FY17 was relatively flat at RM813.42mil against RM812.51mil a year earlier.
For the six-month period ended June 30, net profit almost doubled to RM192.41mil from RM97.84mil in the corresponding period of last year.
Revenue stayed about the same at RM1.62bil versus RM1.63bil previously.
MBSB noted that the group embarked on a “Closing the Gaps” exercise since 2010 to bridge its frameworks to be in line with banking standards and best practices.
The impairment programme, in line with the recommendation by Bank Negara Malaysia, is in addition to the existing impairment provision that is in compliance with current accounting standards.
It made allowances for impairment losses of RM333.16mil for the quarter under review, down from RM398.42mil in the first half of last year.
On its prospects, MBSB said the group expected its performance for 2017 to be satisfactory.
It said it would focus on continued expansion of corporate business segment as this area had shown positive contribution in the second quarter of 2017 flowing in from 2016, in terms of growth in corporate portfolio assets and earnings.
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