PETALING JAYA: Malayan Banking Bhd
’s (Maybank) net earnings for the the first nine months of this year (9M25) have met the expectations of analysts despite Malaysia having cut the overnight policy rate cut.
The banking group posted net earnings of RM7.84bil, up 4%, for 9M25 even as its management turns more optimistic about sustaining its net interest margins (NIMs) for this year.
Kenanga Research said in a note to clients that, following the results, it was raising its earnings forecasts for Maybank by 3% and 1% for this year and next year, respectively.
“We also slightly raised our NIM forecasts for this year to 2.07% to better reflect the renewed guidance but remain slightly conservative against seasonally higher funding costs in the fourth quarter of this year (4Q25),” the research house said.
“While the group had previously taken a more conservative view, its 3Q25 results reveal several bright spots, particularly on NIMs, which were initially guided for slight compression this year to now possibly remaining stable from last year’s 2.12%.”
It said Maybank remains the only local bank to see asset yields and funding costs decline at a similar pace, supported by its ability to keep current account and savings account balances resilient at 37.9% compared with 35.8% in 2Q25 and 34.2% for 3Q24.
Following the completion of a restructuring exercise for a specific corporate borrower, likely in the oil and gas space, the group has revised its credit cost guidance to less than 20 basis points (bps), from less than 30bps, the research house said.
However, the bank remains cautious over emerging risks tied to a construction-sector corporate borrower, which prompted additional provisioning during the quarter, though further details were not disclosed, Kenanga Research added.
It maintained its “outperform” call on Maybank and target price of RM11.30 a share based on an unchanged price to book value of 1.33 times.
Maybank closed two sen up at RM9.96 in yesterday’s trading.
Kenanga Research said the lender’s dividend prospects remain attractive at more than 6%, which is above the industry average of 5.2%.
It also said the bank’s operational resilience would help it sustain its position as the leading local bank in terms of market share and ensure sustainable earnings.
Meanwhile, MBSB Research said it was making no changes to its earnings forecasts for the lender, maintaining its “buy” call target price of RM10.59 a share.
The key risks for the stock include weak loan growth in Indonesia, lingering asset quality concerns and steeper-than-expected NIM compression.
MBSB Research said: “ Maybank’s growth may not be the best, but the compromise is better NIM outlook than most peers. With excess capital and low loan growth this year, we feel that dividend payouts could come in at the higher end.”
It also noted that after NIM optimisation measures, capital market drawdowns and a flight to current and savings accounts successfully lifted 3Q25’s NIM, Maybank’s management thinks further NIM expansion is possible on further deposit repricing, capital market funding, and further optimisation of its loan to deposit ratio.
“Note that no huge ringgit deposit inflows have been seen yet despite the ringgit having appreciated recently. We could see these inflows later, to Maybank’s benefit,” MBSB Research added.
