MBSB posts RM58.2mil net profit in 1Q

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Building Society Bhd’s (MBSB) net profit in the first quarter ended March 31, fell 8.2% to RM58.2mil from RM63.41mil in the same quarter last year.

MBSB, in a statement, said the lower profit is due to lower non-funded income and higher operating expenditure on technology and personnel-related expenses.

“The group’s impairment charge dropped by RM16.7mil or 9.5% on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis while minimal modification losses of RM8.96mil was incurred in 1Q22 under the URUS programme,” it said.

It also recorded a higher gross impaired ratio of 5.89% compared to 4.60% in the preceding quarter mainly arising from the expiry of the repayment assistance and impairment of several corporate financing facilities.

“We expect gross impaired financing to normalise in subsequent quarters with efforts underway to restructure and recover the financing,” MBSB said.

Its revenue for the quarter dipped 2.4% to RM664.55mil from RM680.98mil a year ago.

Acting chief executive officer Datuk Nor Azam said: “The reopening of the economy augurs well for the country, and we expect improved confidence from both consumer and businesses, which will contribute positively towards the overall activity of the Malaysian economy.”

“We are reaffirming our strategies to grow our business in meeting our current business plan in providing sustainable Islamic financing to our customers,” he said.

Nor Azam said although its gross financing only grew by 0.7% during the first quarter, MBSB is set to see higher growth in the coming quarters as some of these financing facilities are at various stages of disbursements.

On the recent hike to the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points to 2%, he said “We do expect some margin compression as a result of the OPR increase and we aim to address this by managing our funding costs.”