Maybank reports record RM3.8b profit

The top lender in Malaysia expects earnings this year will be even better on higher lending and fee-based activities 

 

  Top lender Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank)(1155), which reported record earnings yesterday, expects to do even better in the current financial year as it grows its market share at home and abroad.

Group net profit in the fiscal year ended June 30 2010 was RM3.8 billion, more than a fivefold increase from RM691.9 million before and slightly higher than the RM3.7 billion that analysts had estimated.

The results were achieved on the back of higher revenues across all key business segments as the economy improved, its president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said.

"It is indeed a year of achievement as we cross the regional milestone of US$100 billion (RM314 billion) in total assets and US$1 billion (RM3.14 billion) in profit after tax," Abdul Wahid told reporters at its results briefing late yesterday.
Earnings this year will be even better on higher lending and fee-based activities, he said.

Maybank is targeting 12 per cent loan growth this year, after 10.3 per cent last year, and a return on equity (ROE) of 14 per cent. Its ROE was 13.6 per cent last year.

The group swung back to a net profit of RM912.5 million in its final quarter from a loss of RM1.1 billion before due to an absence of impairment losses.

A year ago, it was hit by a RM1.7 billion impairment charge on its banking investments in Indonesia and Pakistan.

Maybank announced a better-than-expected final dividend of 44 sen a share less tax, of which 4 sen will be paid in cash.

Investors can choose to receive the balance either in cash or re-invest it in Maybank shares.

Abdul Wahid said Maybank intends to be a financial services leader in the region, with 40 per cent of pre-tax profit coming from overseas operations by 2015 compared with 21 per cent last year.

The group is targeting financing growth of 24 per cent in Indonesia, 5 per cent in Singapore and 12 per cent in Malaysia this year.

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