Maybank 4Q14 earnings gain 11.5 per cent

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KUCHING: Malayan Banking Bhd’s (Maybank) earnings for the fourth quarter 2014 gained 11.5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM1.93 billion.

The banking group in a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday said its net profit for financial year 2014 (FY14) inched up marginally by 2.5 per cent y-o-y to RM6.72 billion.

Its income for FY14 grew 7.4 per cent y-o-y to RM35.71 billion while revenue for 4Q14 increased 16.8 per cent y-o-y to RM9.66 billion.

Maybank in its notes accompanying the release of its 4Q14 and FY14 financial results said the group’s net interest income and Islamic banking income for FY14 increased by 4.7 per cent to RM12.97 billion.

It explained that the growth in its net interest income and Islamic banking income was attributed to the growth in the group’s gross loans, advances and financing contributed from the conventional and Islamic banking

operations.

Additionally, other operating income of the group for FY14 decreased 5.8 per cent due to lower foreign exchange gain offset by higher unrealised mark-to-market gain on financial asset at fair value through profit or loss (FVTPL) and derivatives.

The reduced other operating income was also due to lower gain on disposal of financial investments available-for-sale and financial assets at FVTPL offset by higher fee income, it said.

Furthermore, Maybank’s community financial services profit before tax (PBT) increased by 32.5 per cent to RM4.27 billion in FY14.

This was due to writeback of impairment losses on loans, advances and financing, higher net interest income and Islamic banking income arising from strong y-o-y loan growth in mortgage of 13.3 per cent, auto finance of 10.5 per cent and unit trust loans of 7.4 per cent.

Moreover, the bank’s insurance and takaful business’s PBT increased 15.2 per cent y-o-y to RM896.7 million in FY14 due to higher other operating income and lower overhead expenses and higher net interest income.

On the banking group’s prospects this year, Maybank says it plans to intensify focus on fee income business activities in its key markets.

“This will include capturing regional deal and trade finance opportunities, building our wealth management business and expanding our insurance business,” it affirmed.

To note, Maybank KimEng, transaction banking, private wealth, insurance and takaful and asset management are among the businesses that make up the group’s fee income platform.

The group is now in its second year of operating on a matrix structure that supports cross-selling and market collaboration across all business segments.

“We will continue to remain proactive in capital management and maintain capital at levels above the regulatory requirements prescribed by Bank Negara Malaysia. “The group expects its financial performance for the financial year ending December 31, 2015 to remain satisfactory.

“The group has set two headline Key Performance Indicators(KPI) of return on equity (ROE) between 13 per cent to 14 per cent and group loans growth between nine per cent to 10 per cent,” Maybank said.

Apart from that, the bank said it will continue to strengthen its regionalisation focus, particularly in Greater China, the Philippines and Indochinamarkets, which are expected to see favourable gross domestic product (GDP) growth between 6 per cent to 8.5 per cent in 2015.

In Greater China, Maybank says it will focus on facilitating China-ASEAN flows, launching private wealth in the region and strengthening its South China-Indochina coverage, in line with it growth agenda in Indochina.

The Indochina franchise, Maybank said, will be further augmented with its new Myanmar branch in 2015, along with plans of deepening its consumer banking footprint in Cambodia and Laos.

In the Philippines, Maybank will continue to expand it suite of consumer banking services and global banking business, by leveraging on the strength of its regional capabilities, it added.