KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 29): Malaysia Building Society Bhd’s (MBSB) net profit dropped 44.3% to RM32.84 million or 0.46 sen for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), from RM58.96 million or 0.82 sen a year earlier.

The group said earnings were dragged down by higher operating expenses of RM170.6 million and net impairment allowance of RM85.1 million.

Quarterly revenue rose 13.99% to RM746.2 million from RM654.64 million a year ago, the financial group’s bourse filing showed.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, MBSB’s net profit declined 60.76% from RM83.7 million in 2QFY2023, while revenue increased 4.87% from RM711.53 million.

For the first nine months of FY2023 (9MFY2023), MBSB’s net profit fell 26.52% to RM190.66 million to RM259.46 million in the same period last year.

9MFY2023 revenue rose 7.48% to RM2.12 billion from RM1.98 billion.

Moving forward, the group said its business strategy for the coming year will focus more on strengthening its core retail segment and targeting a wider group of commercial customers to facilitate its financing growth.

It said its wholly-owned unit Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) is expected to emerge more financially resilient as a major player in Islamic banking, with a strengthened capacity through a bigger balance sheet, coupled with new offerings to its banking business.

Shares in MBSB closed down half a sen or 0.67% to 74 sen on Wednesday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM6.04 billion.