KUALA LUMPUR: Maybank Group Bhd's net profit for the nine months ended 30 September 2017 surged 23.0 percent to RM5.39 billion as the Group benefitted from improving economic climate across the region.
Net operating income for the nine months rose 6.8 percent year-on-year to reach RM17.29 billion, with growth coming from across all business sectors led by Group Community Financial Services which registered an 8.6 percent rise, Group Insurance & Takaful 2.8 percent and Group Global Banking 0.9 percent.
"The results we have achieved demonstrate that the Group has been able to sustain its growth momentum across its business lines as well as home markets in the last nine months.
"The outlook for the remaining months appears to be improving, giving us the opportunity to seek new growth segments. We will, nevertheless, continue to manage our business prudently, ensuring that we grow responsibly while managing costs and risks in a highly disciplined manner," Maybank chairman Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin said in a statement today.
Group gross loans saw a steady expansion, rising 5.3 percent yoy for the nine months to RM485.9 billion, driven by a 6.6 percent rise in Malaysian operations and 3.7% in international operations.
This helped boost net fund based income by 11.7 percent to RM12.47 billion from RM11.16 billion in September 2016, which more than offset a marginal 4.3 percent dip in net fee based income.
Group deposits expanded 2.7 percent yoy, led mainly by Malaysian operations which grew 7.5 percent and Indonesia operations at 3 percent.
The Group also preserved its robust liquidity position with a liquidity coverage ratio of 137.0 percent from 136.0 percent a year earlier, well above Bank Negara Malaysia’s minimum requirement of 80 percent for 2017.
Meanwhile, Group President and Chief Executive Officer Datuk Abdul Farid Alias said the bank's strong franchise and resilient balance sheet has enabled it to ride through the challenging period over the last few quarters as well as support customers through the changing economic cycles.
"We are now seeing a pick-up in business and loan growth as well as market sentiments, which we intend to leverage further in the coming months. However, in the midst of this more positive outlook, we are conscious of the heightening pressure on interest margins owing to the increasing cost of funds.
"While we remain focused on building our core franchise for the long term, we will ensure that we price our assets and liabilities appropriately to ensure continued profitability," he said.
Maybank continued to maintain a robust capital position as one of the regions strongest capitalised banks with a total capital ratio of 18.03 percent and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 13.50 percent as at September 2017.