Maybank's net profit up 18% to RM1.9b in 3Q15

Thanks to a one-off gain last September 2015.

Maybank reported that profit before tax (PBT) for the third quarter ended 30 September 2015 (Q3FY15) rose 7.1% to reach RM2.38 billion, raising the Group’s PBT for the nine months of FY2015 to RM6.78 billion or 1.4% higher froma year earlier.

Net profit for Q3FY15 came in at RM1.90 billion or 18.1% higher than the RM1.61 billion last yearwhile that for the nine months was RM5.18 billion, 8.3% higher than the RM4.79 billion a year ago.

The results were lifted by higher net operating income coupled with rigorous cost managementand lower net interest margin (NIM) compression of 3 basis points (bps) during the nine-month period. In addition, the Group benefitted from a one-off gain from the sale of its Papua New Guinea (PNG) operations which was completed in September 2015.

After normalising for the gain from the PNG sale, net profit for Q3FY15 was up 5.8% to RM1.70 billion while for the nine months,it was 4.2% higher at RM5.0 billion.