(15 November – Malaysia) Malaysian banks continue to be hampered by bad debts with Maybank posting a drop in its quarterly profit.The bank was hit by unexpectedly higher provisions for bad loans as well as a big unrealised loss on a swap used to hedge interest rate risk.
‘Maybank sees a significantly more challenging operating environment, but is confident of better results for the current financial year,’ chief executive Amirsham Aziz said.
The bank plans to fend off competition in traditional banking products, particularly from foreign banks, by pushing further into Islamic banking, insurance, and investment.