KUALA LUMPUR: Malayan Banking Bhd
(Maybank) said it achieved a higher bottomline in the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, as it registered higher core fees as well as an increase in treasury and market gains.
In the quarter under review, the country's largest bank by assets posted a net profit of RM2.49bil, up from RM2.27bil in the same quarter last year, raising its earnings per share to 20.63 sen from 18.79 sen.
It reported revenue of RM18.35bil, a jump up from RM15.19bil in the comparative quarter.
According to Maybank, net operating income rose a strong 19.8% to RM7.58bil, mainly on the back of 79.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in non-interest income (NOII) as well as better investment and trading income.
Net fund based income improved to RM4.84bil from RM4.8bil a year earlier due to strong group gross loans growth of 11.2% from all key segments in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
This was despite a 19bps decrease in net interest margin (NIM) due to higher funding costs across the home markets.
The bank reported an increase in overhead costs at RM3.66bil compared with RM3.05bil a year earlier.
Net impairment provisions rose to RM544.3mil from RM292.9mil a year earlier on a 29.9% increase in net provisions for loans to RM467.77mil and RM76.49mil for financial investments and others.
President and group CEO Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said the commendable first-quarter earnings is testament to Maybank’s resilience and focus in executing its M25+ strategy
“We remain resolute, adapting and advancing the Agile ways of working to continue our progress on strategic initiatives towards meeting customer expectations.
"Our leadership in sustainability puts us in a good position to exceed our set targets to deploy sustainable financing and decarbonisation solutions not only to our large corporate customers but also to the mid-sized and small firms," he said.
During the first quarter, group gross loans grew 11.2% y-o-y on increases in all its home markets, while deposits expanded 8.9% on the same.
