Maybank Q4 profit up 43%, beats estimates

Hong Kong

MALAYAN Banking Bhd (Maybank), Malaysia's largest lender by assets, reported a 43 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, beating analyst estimates, and forecast stronger loan growth in its core markets of Malaysia and Indonesia.

Loan growth and a rise in investment income helped push profit for the October-December period to RM2.36 billion (S$751.3 million), from RM1.65 billion a year earlier, Maybank said in a statement to the stock exchange.