Maybank Indonesia records profit increase for first quarter 2017

Despite the global economic slowdown, PT Bank Maybank Indonesia has made an encouraging start to the year in announcing today a net profit after tax and minority interest for the first quarter ended March 31 2017 that was 10.4 per cent higher at Rp490.1 billion compared with the corresponding period last year.

Maubank Indonesia in a statement to Bernama here said the Net Interest Income (NII) also rose 8.1 per cent to Rp1.7 trillion (Rp10,000= RM 3.1) in the first quarter 2017 from Rp1.5 trillion in the first quarter 2016.

The increase in NII was mainly due to the bank''s discipline in loan pricing and active funding management.

It also reported an increase in its Net Interest Margin (NIM) to 4.7 per cent in March 2017 compared with 4.3 per cent in March last year.

President Director Maybank Indonesia Taswin Zakaria said however, the challenging macro-economy and continued softening in consumer spending, would bring about new challenges in 2017.

"Despite the slow quarter, we have made an encouraging start to the year. While we continue to see growth in our global banking business in the coming quarters, we will also place greater emphasis on strengthening the retail banking franchise to capture a bigger slice of the market and larger business segments, " he said in a statement.

He said the profit growth was a result of rigorous efforts at improving Maybank Indonesia''s capabilities as well as grow its loan portfolios responsibly.

"We will continue to focus on asset quality and at the same time, tap growth segments in the coming quarters, particularly in supporting the government''s various economic development projects," he added.

Taswin said the bank''s overhead costs remained stable at Rp1.2 trillion for the first quarter 2017, as a result of sustained strategic cost management across its operational and business lines.

Shariah banking also continued to demonstrate strong performance in the first three months of 2017 and net profit rose 50.3 per cent to Rp187.5 billion in March 2017 from Rp124.8 billion in the same month of last year.

Maybank Indonesia is one of the largest banks in the country with 425 branches. It includes Shariah, micro functional offices and overseas branches. - BERNAMA