Malaysia's Maybank second-quarter profit drops 52 per cent

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), Malaysia's largest lender by asset, reported a 51.5 per cent fall in second-quarter profit as incomes shrunk and impairments rose, it said in a bourse filing on Thursday.

Maybank's net profit for the April-June period was RM942 million ($225.95 million) compared with RM1.9 billion a year ago, lagging behind a RM1.64 billion estimate by analysts in a Refinitiv poll.

Revenue fell 9.7 per cent to RM11.8 billion.

The bank's net interest income and Islamic Banking income both fell 8.2 per cent, while allowances for impairment losses on loans and financing rose 344.1 per cent.

"Given the significant interest rate cuts in 2020 across our key markets, the group's net interest margin will compress," Maybank said, adding that it will seek to offset the impact by growing current and savings deposits which carry a lower cost.

Net interest margin is a key measure of bank profitability.

Malaysia's economy shrunk 17.1 per cent in the second quarter, plunging into its first contraction since the 2009 global financial crisis, as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged business activity, prompting the central bank to sharply cut its GDP forecast for this year.