Maybank profits up 21% to $1.48b in 9M 2023

Profit before tax is up 14.4% in the first nine months of the year.

Maybank, Southeast Asia’s fourth largest bank by assets, reported a profit of RM6.96b (approximately $1.48b) for the first nine months of 2023, a 21% increase compared to the same period a year earlier.

Profit before tax (PBT) increased by 14.4% to RM9.58b (US$2.04b). The Malaysian banking giant attributed these better results to steady income growth and significant improvement in net impairment provisions. 

Net operating income for the nine months increased by 3.6% to RM20.38b (US$4.34b) driven by higher non-interest income of 37.8% to RM5.95b (US$1.27b) compared with a year earlier. 

Net fund based income meanwhile, was lower by 6.0% as net interest margin (NIM) compressed 25bps due to higher  funding costs led by interest rate hikes in the past year and continued deposit competition. 

Pre-provisioning operating profit decreased by 2.1% to RM10.61b as overhead costs rose by nearly RMB1b, driven by higher personnel costs, credit card-related fees due to higher billings, right of use (ROU) asset depreciation, and IT-related costs. 

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The bank’s gross impaired loans ratio declined 27 basis points to 1.43%, from 1.7% a year earlier. Loan loss coverage strengthened to 127.1% from 122.3% previously.

Total assets grew from RM945 billion as at December 2022 to RM1.0 trillion as at September 2023 and for the first time it has exceeded the RM1.0 trillion mark.  

For the third quarter of 2023, PATAMI rose 12.3% Y-o-Y to RM2.36 billion compared with the same  period last year, while PBT for the quarter was up 1.8% to RM3.16 billion.  

Net operating income decreased by 5.2%to RM6.75b, attributed to a decrease in net fund  based income of RM4.81b compared with RM5.29b. Net interest margins (NIM) compressed due to persisting funding competition, Maybank said.