Maybank's net profit down to RM1.81b

Maybank recorded a net profit attributable to shareholders of US$512.89 million for the nine months ending 31 March 2009. Its net profit for the same period last year was US$631.9 million.

Group pre-tax profit was US$708.4 million compared with US$1.04 billion recorded previously.

Total revenue for the Group was higher at US$2.045 billion compared to US$1.88 billion in the corresponding period last year.

The performance for the nine months translates into an annualised net return on equity of 12.1 percent with net assets per share at US$1.1958 as at 31 March 2009.

Net interest income for the Group rose 6.9 percent on the back of a 16.9 percent annualised loan growth. The net interest margin on interest earning assets improved to 2.79 percent in the March 2009 quarter from 2.72 percent in the previous corresponding quarter due to a larger reduction in the cost of funds of customer deposits relative to the lending yield.

"While the results for the period were lower than previously, the underlying operations of the Group remained strong as it recorded increased revenue and improvement in asset quality, as well as healthy loans growth during the period," said Maybank Chairman, Tan Sri Mohamed Basir Ahmad.

"Our Islamic banking operations, in particular, showed resilient growth. We believe that there are ample opportunities to sustain this trend and further strengthen our leadership position as the largest Islamic banking player in Asia Pacific," he added.

Maybank President and CEO Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid Omar stated, "It has been an extremely challenging time for us given the impact of what took place in the global financial environment and the current economic slowdown. We are seeing lower profit performance impacted largely by higher provisioning for our international operations given the tougher operating environment and impairment costs resulting from our recent regional acquisitions. Moving ahead, our focus will be on capturing value from these acquisitions and strengthening the performance of our investment banking and insurance operations."