Maybank's net profit up 43% to US$530m in Q4FY16

Earnings were lifted by a one-off sale of securities undertaken during the period.

Maybank recorded sharply higher earnings of RM2.36 billion (US$530m) in the fourth quarter of FY16 (Q4FY16), buoyed by improved revenue arising from a pick-up in loans as well as robust fee income, and underscored by disciplined cost management which resulted in a smaller rise in overhead expenses.

Net profit for Q4FY16 was up 43% from RM1.65 billion (US$370m) a year earlier while profit before tax (PBT) stood at RM2.87 billion (US$645m) from RM2.38 billion (US$535m) in Q4FY15. Even after normalising for one-off exceptional items, the Group’s net profit for Q4FY16 was 15.9% higher compared with the previous corresponding quarter.

Net operating income for the quarter came in 8.1% higher as fee based income surged 14% and fund based income rose 5.2% on the back of a pick-up in corporate lending across the Group’s home markets, as well as the continued strength of its regional consumer banking franchise.

For the full year (FY16), the Group posted a record net operating income of RM22.26 billion, a 4.8% rise year-on-year (Y-o-Y) supported by a 5.2% increase in net fund based income and a 4% rise in net fee based income. Pre-provisioning operating profit (PPOP) also hit a new high of RM11.69 billion, rising 6.7% compared with a year earlier, underpinned by strong growth across all the Group’s business sectors and a particularly sterling performance by Maybank Indonesia.

Net profit for FY16 came in at RM6.74 billion compared with RM6.84 billion a year earlier while profit before tax came in marginally lower at RM8.84 billion from RM9.15 billion in 2015, given additional loan provisions made throughout the year following the Group’s proactive stance to reschedule and restructure credit facilities of customers assessed to be potentially vulnerable to the weaker global economic conditions.