Maybank earnings up 10.8% to P750.8 M

KUALA LUMPUR — Maybank Philippines Inc., the local subsidiary of the largest bank here, grew its earnings before tax by 10.8 percent last year from 2013 levels on continued expansion in loans to both its business and consumer segments.

Maybank Philippines booked P750.8 million in profits before tax in 2014, driven by a 20 percent climb in revenues to P4.21 billion.

“What we saw was a bit more broad-based in the Philippines… we’re still expanding our branch network… but the main component is coming still from the corporate side,” Mohamed Rafique Merican, Maybank’s group chief financial officer, said in a briefing.

The group’s local subsidiary in the Philippines saw its net interest income jump by 38.7 percent in 2014, bringing the net interest margin to 5.79 percent. This was a result of a 30.6 percent increase in consumer and business loans last year from 2013 levels.

Maybank Group president and chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Farid Alias said the growth in the retail business in Manila has been supported by the group’s productivity enhancement drive and expansion of branches.

“The year 2014 was focused on… how to improve productivity and related to that is how to improve the way our products are delivered,” he said.

For this year, Merican said the group may see sustained growth in Maybank Philippines’ corporate segment as it is the bank’s way of participating in the infrastructure projects being rolled out by the Aquino administration and the private sector today.

“We see an opportunity for us as we continue to grow with the strong GDP (gross domestic product) in the Philippines,” Merican said.

The Philippine economy expanded by 6.1 percent last year, slower than the 7.2 percent growth in 2013 and short of the government’s 6.5 to 7.5 percent target. Still, this was the second fastest growth rate recorded in Asia following China’s 7.4 percent.

Maybank Philippines has 79 branches in the Philippines, 30 of which are in Metro Manila and the rest are located in key cities in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao.

The bank is part of the Maybank Group, the biggest financial services group in Malaysia and the fourth largest in Southeast Asia.

Maybank Group saw its net profits increase by 2.5 percent to 6.72 billion Malaysian ringgit in 2014, a new record for the group.

“Our well-diversified footprint and single minded focus on growing the business in profitable market segments together with discipline in cost management have ensured that we continued to create value for all our stakeholders,” Maybank Chairman Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor said at the same briefing.