Maybank records higher FY19 PBT of RM11b on strong Q4 earnings
39 sen per share final dividend proposed; full year dividend payout of RM7.19b

Kuala Lumpur - Maybank, Southeast Asia’s fourth largest bank by assets, today announced that it achieved a record profit before tax (PBT) of RM11 billion for the financial year ended 31 December 2019, up from the RM10.9 billion a year earlier.

The results were boosted by robust performances of its Community Financial Services, Islamic banking and insurance & takaful segments, as well as a particularly strong fourth-quarter (4QFY19) which saw the Group record its highest ever PBT of RM3.26 billion, a 5.4% increase from a year earlier. This came on the back of a 4.6% improvement in net operating income to RM24.7 billion.

Net profit for the year also reached a new high of RM8.2 billion, from RM8.11 billion in 2018, lifted by 4QFY19 net earnings which were up 5.3% to RM2.45 billion from a year earlier.

When compared with the preceding quarter of July-September 2019 (3QFY19), both PBT and net profit for 4QFY19 also came in significantly higher by 23.2% and 22.5% respectively.

The Board of Directors has proposed a final single-tier cash dividend of 39 sen per share, which together with the interim dividend of 25 sen per share, takes the full-year all-cash dividend to 64 sen per share. This translates into a full year dividend payout ratio of 87.8%, amounting to RM7.19 billion.

Maybank Chairman, Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin said that despite the challenging economic environment during 2019, the Group’s steady performance reflected its underlying strength and resilience.

“We believe our ability to create sustainable value is based on the strong foundation that has been laid since Maybank commenced its operations 60 years ago. While we are hopeful for a better year ahead, clouds of uncertainty continue to hover, which is expected to impact global economic outlook in the near term. Nevertheless, we will depend on our ability to innovate, drive service excellence and remain steadfast in our mission of humanising financial services to sustain our position in the coming year.”

Meanwhile, Group President & CEO of Maybank, Datuk Abdul Farid Alias said that the Group will aggressively seek out selective growth opportunities despite the overall cautious stance that is being seen across markets today especially with the prevailing concerns over the Covid-19 virus outbreak and other geo-political issues.

“We have planned an exciting year ahead for Maybank, given that it is our 60th anniversary in 2020, particularly with a number of market-leading digital offerings. We will continue to focus on our digital agenda to help deliver greater efficiency and seek additional revenue streams for the future, while maintaining our emphasis on stringent risk and cost management to cushion the Group from the uncertainties ahead. At the same time, we will closely monitor the current situation and ensure that our business continuity initiatives are able to mitigate the impact to our business.”

Record Net Operating Income
The Group achieved a record net operating income of RM24.74 billion for FY19 on the back of a 10.7% rise in net fee based income and a 2.2% improvement in fund based income. The increase came as a result of higher contributions from all business sectors led by its Group Insurance & Takaful business.

Loans & Deposits Growth
The Group continued to manage its balance sheet in line with its risk posture, ensuring both loans and deposit growths were balanced to protect its Net Interest Margin (NIM) and reduce liquidity surplus, in light of the challenging external environment.

Group gross loans expanded by 1.2% in FY19 – contributed by a healthy growth in Malaysian operations, where it outpaced the industry with a 4.9% expansion. Group Deposits, meanwhile, expanded 1.6%, in line with loans expansion, led by Singapore at 4.6% and Malaysia at 2.2%. Consequently, NIM for FY19 was only marginally lower by 6bps to 2.27%, compared with 2.33% in FY18.

Liquidity & Capital strength
Maybank continued to maintain a healthy liquidity position with a Liquidity Coverage Ratio of 141% and Loan-to-Deposit Ratio of 92.4%. Total capital ratio was 18.23% while its fully loaded CET1 ratio stood at 14.58%, both well above the regulatory requirements of 10.5% and 7.0% respectively.

Asset quality
The Group recorded a net credit charge off rate of 44 bps for FY19 within its guidance of 40-45 bps, aided by strong recoveries during the year. Gross Impaired Loan (GIL) Ratio, meanwhile stood at 2.65% as at December 2019 from the 2.41% in December 2018 as the Group took a proactive stance to provide for some of the accounts of clients impacted by the challenging economic environment during the year. Net impairment losses in 4QFY19 were, however, significantly lower by 68% from the preceding quarter.

PT Bank Maybank Indonesia Tbk reported a 3.7% increase in its gross operating income to Rp10.8 trillion for the financial year ended 31 December 2019 compared with Rp10.4 trillion in the previous corresponding period.  The growth was supported primarily by the improvement in fee based income during the period. Operating profit before provision increased 0.3% to Rp4.4 trillion, while profit after tax and minority interest (PATAMI), stood at Rp1.8 trillion compared with Rp2.2 trillion a year earlier due to an increase in loan loss provision as the Bank maintained its conservative stance in setting aside provision for accounts primarily in the commercial segment impacted by the challenging economic environment.

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For enquiries, please contact:

Maybank Group Corporate Affairs
Nazdy +603-20708833 Ext 2465 /+6012 3517561 | Irwan +603-20747778 / +6019 2787719 |Rishvan +603-20748654 /+6012 2360024
Email: corporateaffairs@maybank.com