Rafe Haneef
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Building Society Bhd
(MBSB) is taking various initiatives which include improving our cost of funds via increasing CASA (current account savings account) deposits to remain competitive in terms of pricing.
“We will continue to drive the growth in financing through relationship-based partnerships and providing innovative and personalised service,” MBSB said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.
The bank said the impending proposed merger with Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) will result in a well-capitalised financial services group which is financially resilient to compete in the market with a stronger balance sheet.
“Further, it will create a banking group with end-to-end banking services comprising consumer banking, commercial & SME banking, development finance, corporate banking, investment banking, and asset management, servicing a wider customer base that extends beyond MBSB Bank and MIDF’s pool of existing customers,” it added.
In the second quarter ended June 30 (2Q23), MBSB posted a lower net profit of RM83.7mil, or earnings per share of 1.17 sen compared with RM142.3mil, or 1.98 sen a year prior.
Revenue, however, rose 8.4% to RM711.5mil from RM656.3mil previously.
In the first half to June 30, MBSB posted a net profit of RM157.8mil on revenue of RM1.4bil.
The group’s deposits rose by 5.54% to RM40bil in 2Q23 compared to RM37.9bil in 1Q23.
On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, deposits grew by 9.67% from RM36.5bil in 2Q22.
The group’s CASA composition from retail depositors increased by 12% to 55% in 2Q23 compared to 43% in 1Q23.
“We are pleased to see an improvement in the net profit this quarter which reflects the positive trajectory and impact of our focused strategy,” group chief executive officer Rafe Haneef said in a statement.
“In 2Q23, we saw a steady growth in deposits, where YoY, it grew by 9.67% and quarterly, it grew by 5.54%. We hope that with the consistent drive of our deposit campaigns, customers will recognise the competitiveness of our offerings and will get onboard to subscribe to MBSB Bank’s CASA-i products,” he added.
MBSB’s return on equity (ROE) stood at 3.58%, an increase of 0.19% from 3.39% in 1Q23 while return on Asset (ROA) grew marginally to 0.57% in 2Q23 from 0.54% in 1Q23.
Common equity tier (CET-1) is at 18.92% in 2Q23, due to higher risk weighted assets as a result of asset growth, while the group’s liquidity coverage ratio is at 193.37% in 2Q23 which is well above regulatory minimum requirement.
MBSB said its gross impact ratio (GIR) improved to 6.6% in 2Q23 from 7.0% in 1Q23 due to its recovery efforts and financing growth.
Meanwhile, the group’s gross financing increased by 4.5% to RM40.3bil contributed by the consumer segment (3.8%) and corporate/commercial banking (up by 6.3%).
