Lower expenses push Maybank profits up 10% to $477.39m in Q1

A surge in fee-based income outpaced growth in overhead expenses.

Reuters reports that slashed expenses and a sustained decline in impairment losses was able to buoy Malayan Banking Bhd to post its highest ever quarterly profit in Q1 which rose 10% YoY to $477.39m (1.9b ringgit) in Q1.

Cost-to-income ratio clocked in at 47.6% YoY versus 50.1% as fee-based and fund-based income growth outpaced the growth in overhead expenses.

Net impairment also fell 7.7%, whilst gross impaired loans ratio improved from 2.4% to 2.37%.

The bank’s operations in Malaysia witnessed a 6.7% increase in loans whilst its Singapore and Indonesia businesses saw increases of 5.5% and 2.9% respectively.

Here’s more from Reuters: