KUALA LUMPUR (May 28): Malayan Banking Bhd (KL:MAYBANK) reported a 4% decline in earnings in the first quarter as sharply lower non-interest income from tough markets offset higher interest income.
Net profit at Malaysia’s biggest bank by assets was RM2.48 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2026 (1QFY2026) compared to RM2.59 billion over the same period a year earlier. Net interest income grew 3.2% while other operating income, including fees and trading gains, fell 47%, according to its bourse filing on Thursday.
“The group aims to build scalable businesses in Islamic finance, regional wealth management, regional transactions and payments, as well as regional corporate and investment banking,” the bank also known as Maybank said.
No interim dividend was declared.
Maybank achieved a return on equity of 11.2% in the first quarter. For the full year, the target is to achieve at least 11.8% in return on equity.
Gross loans expanded 0.9%. If the impact of foreign exchange is excluded, group loans rose 3.4% year-on-year. The target is to achieve loans growth of 4%-5% on a constant currency basis. Group deposits, meanwhile, shrank 6.3%.
Net interest margin, a measure of lending profitability after funding costs, expanded by 10 basis points to 2.14% and is ahead of its full-year target of between 2.05% and 2.10%.
In terms of asset quality, gross impaired loans — loans classified as unrecoverable as a percentage of total loans — deteriorated by seven basis points to 1.34%.
Shares of Maybank were down two sen or 0.4% to RM10.92, giving it a market capitalisation of RM132 billion ahead of the results announcement.