Maybank's profits jump

Maybank's profits jump

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malayan Banking Bhd. (Maybank) reported Saturday that net profits rose 39.4 percent from a year earlier to 654.57 million ringgit (US$261.83 million) in the six months to December.

Malaysia's biggest bank said its net interest income rose 28.2 percent to 1.6 billion ringgit while earnings per share grew 39 percent to 57.2 sen.

Maybank managing director Amirsham Aziz told a news conference he was satisfied with the bank's good performance and expects the second half year to remain favorable.

The group's total deposits expanded by 18 percent to 66.461 billion ringgit while total loans and advances grew 19 percent to 63.173 billion ringgit.