KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 — The country’s top lender, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) said its second-quarter net profit rose 35 per cent as the recovering economy boosted loan growth and fee income from services such as M&A and fund management.
Maybank said today its October-December net profit was RM993.5 million, its second straight quarterly profit after its worst-ever RM1.1 billion loss posted in April-June 2009.
It made a net profit of RM734.6 million in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts generally do not provide quarterly earnings forecasts for Malaysian companies, but Cazenove Asia put its estimate for Maybank’s second-quarter net profit at RM760 million.
Malaysian bank earnings are set to grow this year as margins stabilise and loan growth accelerates with the turnaround in the economy.
But Maybank’s dominant market position has been eroded slowly by more aggressive banks such as CIMB and Public Bank, as it continues to battle the fallout from a series of expensive acquisitions in 2008.
Shares of Maybank, with a market value of US$14 billion (RM48 billion), are down 2 per cent so far this year, outperforming the 4 per cent loss in the broader market index. Maybank shares rose 50 per cent last year but lagged top dealmaker CIMB’s more than two-fold increase. — Reuters
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