KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 25): Malayan Banking Bhd's (Maybank) net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2021 (3QFY21) dipped 13.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM1.68 billion from RM1.95 billion earlier, due to a decrease in net fee based income as well as higher net impairment losses.

In a bourse filing on Thursday, the lender said revenue for the quarter decreased to RM11.15 billion from RM13.76 billion.

Earnings per share slipped to 14.41 sen from 17.37 sen.

Maybank did not declare any dividend.

For the cumulative nine months to Sept 30, 2021, Maybank said net profit rose to RM6.04 billion from RM4.94 billion a year earlier, despite a lower revenue of RM34.7 billion versus RM38.79 billion previously.

Reviewing its performance, Maybank said net impairment losses decreased by 28.3% to RM2.56 billion from RM3.57 billion a year earlier as the group benefitted from its earlier prudent stance in accelerating its forward looking assumption provisioning.

Maybank said total group gross loans grew 4% y-o-y as at Sept 30, lifted mainly by increases of 11.3% and 2.2% in its Singapore and Malaysia operations respectively, while the Indonesia operation saw a 9.9% decline.

Looking ahead, Maybank said with the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting business and economic activities globally over the past two years given new virus variants and ensuing movement restrictions, the bank has supported its customers with various repayment assistance initiatives and rescheduling and restructuring (R&R) programmes since February 2020 to help ease customers' cash flow burdens and work towards stabilising their livelihoods.

In a separate statement, Maybank chairman Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa said that despite the impact of movement restrictions on the bank's 3QFY21 performance, its strong liquidity and capital base will allow it to tap growth opportunities that are emerging with the reopening of the economy.

"As Malaysia sees economic recovery in the fourth quarter of 2021 on the back of strong vaccination rates and an uptick in business and leisure mobility, we will position ourselves for renewed growth and to support our customers in making the most of these early days of economic recovery," he said.

Meanwhile, group president and chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Farid Alias said Maybank will continue to provide tailored financial solutions to meet the current needs of customers that have shifted from preservation to growth, with the reopening of economies, while continuing to support customers who require targeted financial assistance.

"We will help our customers capitalise on growth opportunities arising from the recovery so they are able to sustain themselves moving forward in this new operating environment.

"This includes supporting them in embracing digitalisation in their operations, exploring alternative forms of financing solutions and looking at investment solutions that can help grow their wealth.

"Meanwhile, within the organisation, we are constantly exploring ways to improve our efforts in relation to the climate and sustainability agenda as part of our motto to always do the right thing," he said.

At the midday break today, Maybank rose three sen to RM8.15, valuing it at RM96.77 billion.