KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — Malaysia’s largest lender Malayan Banking (Maybank) posted record full year profits, driven by robust loans growth and said it expects to achieve better earnings in 2011.
“It is indeed a year of achievement as we cross the regional milestone of US$100 billion in total assets and US$1 billion (RM3.2 billion) in profit after tax,” Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, Maybank’s chief executive, said.
The bank is seen as the best proxy to Malaysia’s strong economic recovery, given its diversified exposure to both business and consumer loans. It also has operations in Singapore and Indonesia.
Malaysian banks are expected to see strong earnings expansion this year helped by the country’s economic recovery with second quarter GDP growth at 8.9 per cent and a boost in corporate activity.
“Maybank’s results are relatively in line as it falls within five per cent of expectations. It was quite a positive surprise on dividends,” analyst Lim Sue Lin of HwangDBS said.
The company declared a final dividend of 44 sen per share, with the net dividend payment for the financial year totalling RM2.9 billion.
Full-year net profit rose to RM3.82 billion, surpassing its prior best ever full-year net profit of RM3.18 ringgit reported in fiscal 2007, and beating analyst expectations of RM3.7 billion.
Maybank, with a market value of US$18 billion, posted an April-June net profit of RM912.5 million compared with a loss of RM1.1 billion a year ago.
Loan loss provisions were significantly lower in the quarter at RM311.2 million compared with RM782.5 million in the year ago.
In July, Malaysia’s third-largest lender by assets, Public Bank, reported a 20 per cent rise in second quarter earnings boosted by strong domestic loans growth and and higher non-interest income.
In the same month Southeast Asia’s largest bank Singapore’s DBS posted a surprising quarterly loss, hurt by a writedown, though its core earnings beat market expectations.
Maybank said it has set two key performance indicators for 2011 — a growth in loans and debt securities of 12 per cent and return on equity of 14 per cent.
It expects demand for financing to remain strong, driven mainly by consumer finance in Malaysia as well as consumer and small and medium enterprises in Indonesia.
It is targeting a financing growth rate of 24 per cent in its Indonesian unit Bank Internasional Indonesia, 12 per cent in Malaysia and five per cent in Singapore.
The company, which had earlier in May said it was mulling a dual-listing in Indonesia, said it was hopeful that it could happen next year, after regulatory approvals.
Fourteen out of 22 analysts tracked by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S have a “buy” or “strong buy” rating on Maybank, with five calling it a “hold”, two rating it an “underperform” and one other a “sell”.
Maybank shares have gained 17.6 per cent this year, outperforming the broader market’s 9.4 per cent rise, but lags Malaysia’s top deal maker CIMB’s 18.7 per cent gain. — Reuters
