Maybank's Q1 net profit down 3.20% to $430m

Its Singapore unit was hit by a loss before taxation of $19.05m.

Maybank’s net profit in Q1 dipped 3.20% YoY to $430m (MYR1.81b) from $450m (MYR1.87b) , an announcement revealed. Meanwhile, revenue inched up 0.7% YoY to $1.40b (MYR5.86b) from $1.39b (MYR5.82b) a year ago.

The group saw steady growth in loans across key home markets with the lending portfolio of its Indonesian operations growing by a robust 11.3%., The loans extended by other international markets expanded by 4.7%, Malaysia at 3.7%, and Singapore at 3.4%, bringing the overall group loans growth to 4.8% in Q1.

The bank’s Malaysian loan portfolio saw healthy increases in SME loans (12.2%), mortgages (8.6%), auto finance (4.5%), unit trust (6.3%), and credit cards (3.3%).

Maybank recorded a 1.6% rise in net operating income to $810m (MYR3.38b) in the region. Net fee based income rose 1.9% to $190m (MYR795m) backed by the growth in wealth management bancassurance fee income. Net fund based income grew 1.5% to $620m (MYR2.58b).

For its Islamic banking business, profits before tax skyrocketed 96.9% to $214.32m (MYR896.6m) buoyed by the lower provisioning levels and higher write backs for the quarter as
well as the 9.3% rise in total income.

Maybank Singapore saw a 3.6% rise in net fund based income to $46.11m (S$192.88m) for Q1, on the back of a 3.4% YoY rise in loans to $10.18m (S$42.6b). However, net fee based income decreased 20.6% YoY to $19.85m (S$83.04m) owing to the absence of a one-off gain made last year. Together with higher loan loss allowances for several existing impaired loans, the bank recorded a loss before taxation of $19.05m (S$79.7m).