Maybank said its net profit from July to September dropped to RM1.61 billion ($481 million) from the RM1.75 billion ($523 million) posted in the same period last year.
Compared with the second quarter 2014, the third quarter’s net profit was 2.1 percent higher than the previous RM1.58 billion ($472 million).
“We were able to mitigate much of the impact by leveraging growth areas and managing costs, but were largely held back by a softer external environment such as the weaker regional investment banking climate and the slowdown in Indonesia,” said Maybank Chairman Tan Sri Megat ZaharuddinMegat Mohd Nor.
“We are hopeful that these will turn around in 2015 and we remain prepared to tap into the anticipated pick up in business opportunities then,” he added.
Meanwhile, Maybank Group president and chief executive Datuk Abdul Farid Alias said the first nine months of the year a challenging period for financial institutions in Malaysia to find growth.
“Owing to this, we focused on areas that we could control while taking the opportunity to strive for faster growth in selected business segments,” he said.
“At the same time, we made some investments for our future and will continue to follow this strategy for the remainder of the year, while preparing for 2015.”
For the nine months of 2014, the Maybank group saw a 2.9 percent decline in net income to RM13.45 billion.
Maybank’s international operations, meanwhile, saw a strong nine months with net income rising 5.9 percent to RM4.21 billion ($1.3 million).
As of September 2014, net income from international operations made up 35.7 percent of the Group’s income compared with 33.7 percent a year earlier, while gross loans made up 39.8 percent of Group loans from 37 percent a year earlier.
Maybank Philippines recorded a significantly better performance in the nine months, registering a 31.2 percent year-on-year increase in profit before tax to P636.4 million on the back of higher net interest income.
Gross loans grew 29.6 percent annualized or P8.3 billion attributable mainly to an increase in term loans.
Revenue for the period also rose 19 percent compared to a year earlier to P2.95 billion.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
