Maybank confident of hitting target

MANILA, Philippines - Maybank Philippines Inc. said it is optimistic it can hit its growth target this year after posting a more than four-fold increase in earnings in the first half of 2012.

Maybank’s net income jumped significantly to P360 million during the period, from as P89 million in the same period in 2011.

“We are looking at a 20 percent income growth in 2012,” the bank said, in an email message to The STAR.

The bank attributed the substantial improvement in first half profit to the 74 percent expansion of its loan book, resulting in a 32 percent growth in net interest income.

Non-interest income also showed a remarkable growth of 70 percent compared with the same period in 2011.

The bank currently has 53 branches. It opened its newest, the Tarlac branch, earlier this month.

With the newest branch in Northern Luzon, Maybank said it hopes to increase its network to 55 by yearend. It plans to put up two more branches in Davao and Bonifacio Global City.

Maybank Philippines, a full-service commercial bank, was acquired in August 2000 by the Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank), the first foreign bank to have almost 100 percent ownership stake in a Philippine commercial bank under the new Philippine banking law.

Maybank is the largest bank and financial group in Malaysia, with significant banking operations in Singapore and Indonesia.

The bank also has large interests in Islamic banking through Maybank Islamic Berhad and insurance via its Etiqa subsidiary. In Malaysia, it has 384 domestic branches, and 190 international branches and offices.

Maybank is among the largest listed companies on the Malaysian Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of over 54 billion ringgit ($22 billion) as of end-March 2011.

The group, which has expanded internationally, has the largest network among Malaysian banks of over 2,100 branches and offices in 17 countries, employing 42,000 and serving over 21 million customers.