Maybank reported a 7.9% rise in net profit to a record MYR 10.09 billion ($2.2 billion) for the financial year ended 31 December 2024 (FY24).

Profit before tax (PBT) was up 9.3% at MYR 13.70 billion ($3.06 billion) compared to a year earlier. The financial results were driven by strong operating income on the back of positive regional economic activities and steady improvement in net impairment provisions.

Net operating income grew by 8.1% to MYR 29.57 billion ($6.62 billion). This was led by a strong 22.6% increase in non-interest income (NOII) from higher fees from wealth management and investment banking, and income from global markets and insurance. Net fund based income rose 2.0% to MYR 19.69 billion ($4.40 billion) with loans growth of 5.3% YoY. Net interest margin (NIM) was at 2.05% as a result of higher funding cost and continued deposit competition. However, NIM improved by 3 bps in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024 (4Q FY24) owing to positive traction of deposit and funding strategy.

Overhead costs expanded at a slower rate to MYR 14.46 billion ($3.23 billion) or 8.0% on higher personnel costs, IT expenses and marketing expenses. As a result, the group’s pre-provisioning operating profit (PPOP) was up 8.2% YoY to MYR 15.11 billion ($3.38 billion). Return on equity (ROE) increased to 11.1%, steadily improving from 10.8% in FY23.

Net impairment provisions decreased by 2.0% to MYR 1.65 billion ($369.49 million) owing to higher bad debts recovered in FY24. As a result, net credit charge off rate for loans decreased to 26 bps from 31 bps a year earlier. Gross impaired loans ratio improved by 11 bps to 1.23% from 1.34% a year earlier while loan loss coverage stood at 126.9% from 124.9% in FY23. The group continues to undertake proactive engagement with clients facing financial challenges by assisting them in managing their commitments effectively.

4Q FY24 vs 4Q FY23

For the fourth quarter of FY24, the group recorded a healthy 6.1% rise in net profit to MYR 2.53 billion ($566 million) compared to the same period in the previous year, benefitting from the pick-up in regional economies, and boosted by income from wealth management, investment banking, global markets and insurance. Meanwhile, PBT grew 15.7% YoY to MYR 3.41 billion ($763 million).

4Q FY24 vs 3Q FY24

On the group’s quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) performance, PBT increased 0.4% while net profit eased by 0.2% compared with the quarter earlier.

Dividend payout

Maybank continued to reward its shareholders with steady and healthy dividend income with the declaration of a full cash second interim dividend of MYR 0.32 ($0.07) per share. Together with the first interim dividend of MYR 0.29 ($0.06) per share earlier, full-year dividend stood at MYR 0.61 ($0.13) per share, translating into a payout ratio of 73.0%. This is well above our dividend policy of a minimum 40% and a strong dividend yield of 6.0%.

Loans and deposits

Group gross loans grew by 5.3% YoY as at FY24, lifted by increases in all home markets of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia by 8.2%, 8.9% and 11.7% respectively. The group’s deposits meanwhile expanded 6.5% on growth across its Singapore 18.7%, Malaysia 6.0% and Indonesia market of 3.0%. Group fixed deposits was up 5.8% and group CASA increased 5.5% owing to growth in Singapore and Malaysia markets.

Capital and liquidity strength

Maybank maintained robust capital and liquidity positions as at FY24, with its CET1 capital ratio at 14.90%, and total capital ratio at 18.04% compared to 15.34% and 18.56% respectively in FY23. The group’s liquidity coverage ratio remained stable at 134.0%, well above the regulatory requirement of 100%.

Comments from Maybank chairman and president and group CEO Maybank chairman, Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa said that Maybank has consistently remained resilient in the face of uncertainties by prioritising responsible business practices and management.

“Our financial performance this year demonstrates the strength of our core business and the continued success of our strategic initiatives. It is also a reflection of our steadfast commitment to long-term growth, innovation and sustainable shareholder value creation.

The group will also heighten efforts to drive socio-economic growth across the markets we operate in, premised on our mission of humanising financial services. As of FY2024, via our wide-ranging and focused social impact initiatives, we have touched close to 1.3 million lives across ASEAN, through our social financing and beyond banking social empowerment initiatives. This includes supporting segments such as students and youth, women, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and marginalised communities, as well as the environment.

Underscoring our commitment to continuous value creation for our stakeholders, based on the commendable performance for the full year, we are proud to announce that the board has declared a full year dividend for our shareholders at MYR 0.61 ($0.13) per share. This comprises the first interim dividend of MYR 0.29 ($0.06) per share announced earlier in the year and a full cash second interim dividend of MYR 0.32 ($0.07) per share.

Meanwhile, president and group CEO of Maybank, Khairussaleh Ramli said that Maybank’s unwavering focus to drive its M25+ strategy has resulted in both solid business performance and delivering sustainable outcomes for the people, customers and communities that the group serves.

“We continue to see good traction across our core businesses, collectively strengthening our topline growth. At the same time, we better manage our asset quality and overheads. This has been further boosted by efforts to deepen our relationship with our customers, reinforcing our segmental approach and customer penetration across products and sectors.

As a key differentiator, we will deep dive on our myimpact value proposition, which will set the global benchmark for values-based offerings. This will be coupled with stronger integration of our banking franchise in ASEAN, enabling solutions for enhanced customer hyper-personalisation, strengthening our position as the focal point for sustainable financing and driving technological innovation for Islamic financial services.

Looking ahead, with FY25 marking the final leg of M25+, we aim to finish strong. With 2025 also being the year of Malaysia’s chair of ASEAN, Maybank as a leading financial institution in ASEAN, is ready and well positioned to deliver exceptional value to all our customers and stakeholders in the region.”

Sustainability updates

Maybank has exceeded all four of its sustainability targets for FY24. It continued to record strong progress in sustainable finance for the full year ended 31 December 2024, with a cumulative achievement of over MYR 115.17 billion ($25.78 billion), well over the target to mobilise MYR 80 billion ($17 billion) in sustainable finance by 2025. Under commitment 2, Maybank has improved the lives of 2.12 million households across ASEAN through a combination of its social impact programmes across ASEAN, particularly for the lower income communities, against the target of two million households by 2025. Under commitments 3 and 4, the group had recorded a 53.0% reduction in carbon emissions for our own operations, as well as over two million sustainability hours that included capacity building programmes such as Maybank Sustainability Practitioners Certification for our own employees in FY24.

Meanwhile, Maybank has published decarbonisation pathways for automobile and commercial real estate sectors, in addition to power, palm oil, steel and aluminium sectors in its updated White Paper titled, “Banking on a Better Tomorrow: Our Commitment to Net Zero”.

M25+ progress

M25+ delivered exceptional results in Maybank’s Supergrowth areas, boosting income by 21-23% on average across wealth management, bancassurance and motor insurance, SME and cash management segments since its implementation in Q4 2022. Investments income in Singapore rose 66% YoY while CASA deposits grew 7.6% across Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia markets. Acceleration of digital enablement increased transaction banking proposition by 16 percentage points and digitally opened and activated CASA accounts in Malaysia by two-folds, contributing 10.7% in the overall deposit growth.

Enhanced analytics and algorithm contributed to a 31% increase in insurance and family takaful policy sales along with a 57% increase in daily auto renewal premiums. Funding access expansion to SME customers increased average monthly loan origination in Singapore by 36%, and Indonesia by 27%, while an integrated solutions approach for SMEs in Malaysia reiterated the bank’s Beyond Banking offering.

Adoption of agile methodologies continue to drive inter-sectoral collaboration efforts and faster time-to-market of products.

Sectoral review

Group Community Financial Services (GCFS) registered a 9.1% YoY increase in PBT for the financial year ended 2024, reaching MYR 6.23 billion ($1.39 billion). This was backed by a 6.5% YoY growth in net operating income and a 7.0% decline in allowances for loan losses. Net operating income was at MYR 18.01 billion ($4.03 billion) in FY24 driven by a steady growth in both its NOII and net fund based income by 11.1% and 5.1% respectively compared with a year earlier. Total loans expanded at all home markets of Malaysia (9.1%), Indonesia (11.7%) and Singapore (13.0%). Wealth management, a key focus segment for the group, maintained its upward trajectory with total financial assets rising 14.3% from a year earlier, reaching MYR 536.2 billion ($120 billion) contributed by growth in investments of 12.4% and loans of 19.3%.

Group global banking (GGB) achieved an 8.9% YoY increase in PBT for the financial year ended 2024, reaching MYR 6.48 billion ($1.45 billion). The growth was driven by strong income expansion, lower net impairment losses, and a PBT contribution of MYR 328.61 million ($73.57 million) from the investment banking group. Net operating income rose 9.0% YoY to MYR 10.24 billion ($2.29 billion), supported by a 33.8% increase in NOII to MYR 5.31 billion ($1.18 billion). However, net fund based income declined 9.1% YoY to MYR 4.93 billion ($1.10 billion), primarily due to elevated funding costs. Net impairment losses improved by 24.2% YoY, reflecting sustained efforts in asset quality management. Corporate loans growth remained strong across its home markets, with YoY increases of 4.3% in Malaysia, 6.1% in Singapore, and 11.4% in Indonesia. Customer deposits grew 2.5% YoY, driven by a solid 6.8% increase in CASA, with growth of 3.9% in Malaysia and a notable 55.1% in Singapore.

The group’s Islamic banking business saw a rise in PBT by 20% YoY to MYR 4.19 billion ($938 million) in FY24. This was on the back of solid increase in total income by 13.0% to MYR 8.49 billion ($1.9 billion). Within the business, Maybank Islamic’s total gross financing grew by 10.5% to MYR 294.5 billion ($65.9 billion), contributed by strong growth in its CFS business by 11.8% and GB business by 5.7% in Malaysia. As at 31 December 2024, Islamic financing constituted 70.3% of Maybank Malaysia’s total loans and financing. Maybank Islamic continued to lead in the market share of Islamic assets in Malaysia at 29.9%. Assets under management for group Islamic wealth management (Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia) increased 30.3% YoY to MYR 94.57 billion ($21.17 billion).

Etiqa insurance and takaful registered a robust increase in PBT by 54.7% YoY to MYR 1.52 billion ($340.4 million) for the full year of 2024. Total net adjusted premium was 14.0% higher on the back of a 17.1% YoY increase in total life and family net adjusted premiums and a 10% rise in total general net written premiums. Etiqa maintained its top position in the general insurance and takaful (Malaysia) segment with a 16.6% market share and third in the life/family (new business) segment with a 14.0% market share.

Key home markets

Maybank Singapore saw a rise in PBT by 16.6% YoY to SGD 702.20 million ($520.18 million) for FY24 on the back of a healthy net income which rose 14.0% to SGD 1.29 billion ($ 955.47 million). This was mainly attributed to a strong increase in NOII by 57.9% YoY to SGD 598.62 million ($443.40 million) and higher write back in loan loss allowances, offsetting the lower fund based income and higher overheads. Net fund based income however, reduced 8.1% YoY, impacted by compressed NIMs owing to higher funding cost cushioned by balance sheet growth.

Maybank Indonesia recorded a PBT of IDR 1.60 trillion ($97.10 million billion) for FY24, supported by a sustained upward trend in PBT over the past three quarters. Loans grew 10% YoY driven by its CFS non-retail and retail loans, and global banking segment. Total assets increased by 14.8% to IDR 197.18 trillion ($11.96 billion). Customer deposits up by 3.0% to IDR 119.00 trillion ($7.22 billion) from IDR 115.50 trillion ($7.01 billion), driven by 6.6% growth in CASA. Backed by expanding loan balance, the bank’s consolidated non-performing loan (NPL) ratio improved from 2.9% (gross) and 1.9% (net) in December FY23 to 2.7% (gross) and 1.4% (net) in December FY24 and loan at risk (LAR) improved to 8.2%, from 8.9% a year earlier.

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker