Malaysia

The sector’s pre-provision operating profit is at its lowest since Q1 2017.

Its Singapore unit was hit by a loss before taxation of $19.05m. Maybank’s net profit in Q1 dipped 3.20% YoY to $430m (MYR1.81b) from $450m (MYR1.87b) , an announcement revealed. Meanwhile, revenue inched up 0.7% YoY to $1.40b (MYR5.86b) from $1.39b (MYR5.82b) a year ago. The group saw steady growth in loans across key home markets with the lending portfolio of its Indonesian operations growing by a robust 11.3%., The loans extended by other international markets expanded by 4.7%, Malaysia at 3.7%, and Singapore at 3.4%, bringing the overall group loans growth to 4.8% in Q1. The bank’s Malaysian loan portfolio saw healthy increases in SME loans (12.2%), mortgages (8.6%), auto finance (4.5%), unit trust (6.3%), and credit cards (3.3%). Maybank recorded a 1.6% rise in net operating income to $810m (MYR3.38b) in the region. Net fee based income rose 1.9% to $190m (MYR795m) backed by the growth in wealth management bancassurance fee income. Net fund based income grew 1.5% to $620m (MYR2.58b). For its Islamic banking business, profits before tax skyrocketed 96.9% to $214.32m (MYR896.6m) buoyed by the lower provisioning levels and higher write backs for the quarter as well as the 9.3% rise in total income. Maybank Singapore saw a 3.6% rise in net fund based income to $46.11m (S$192.88m) for Q1, on the back of a 3.4% YoY rise in loans to $10.18m (S$42.6b). However, net fee based income decreased 20.6% YoY to $19.85m (S$83.04m) owing to the absence of a one-off gain made last year. Together with higher loan loss allowances for several existing impaired loans, the bank recorded a loss before taxation of $19.05m (S$79.7m).

Equity crowdfunding and P2P platforms have raised $84m for small businesses so far.

The lender can process payments through DuItNow.

Employee upskilling is also a priority to ensure that workers can keep up with digital developments.

Non-residential property loans were the only segment with deteriorating asset quality.

New loan applications shrunk 6% in March.

The bank has approved $1.74b in SME financing in 2018.

Improved economics, personalised customer experience, and enhanced employee engagement are keys to sustainability.

The bank also hopes to boost digital transaction volumes to over 80% by 2022.

Banks can handle the surcharge as CET1 ratios of big lenders range from 12-15.5% in 2018.

It supports 13 currencies including US, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong dollar.

Mobylize offers users credit scoring, analysis and decisioning tools.

The central bank had preliminary talks with internet-only bank operators overseas.

Sector earnings grew at a slower pace due to higher MFRS9 provisions.

Its loans could grow 6% in FY20 and NIMs could expand 5bp.