KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 27): Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank)'s net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2019 rose 5.1% to RM2.45 billion from RM2.33 billion a year earlier, on the back of its community financial services, Islamic banking, and insurance and takaful segments' robust performance.

In a bourse filing today, Maybank said revenue for the quarter rose to RM12.98 billion from RM12.23 billion previously.

Earnings per share increased to 21.79 sen from 21.05 sen.

Maybank proposed a final single-tier cash dividend of 39 sen per share, translating to RM7.19 billion. This brings full-year dividend to 64 sen per share.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, Maybank’s net profit increased to RM8.19 billion from RM8.11 billion in the year-ago period, on the back of higher revenue of RM52.84 billion versus RM47.32 billion.

In a separate statement, Maybank chairman Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin said that despite the challenging economic environment during 2019, the group’s steady performance reflected its underlying strength and resilience.

“While we are hopeful for a better year ahead, clouds of uncertainty continue to hover, which is expected to impact global economic outlook in the near term.

“Nevertheless, we will depend on our ability to innovate, drive service excellence and remain steadfast in our mission of humanising financial services to sustain our position in the coming year,” she said.

Meanwhile, Maybank group president and chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Farid Alias said the banking group will aggressively seek out selective growth opportunities despite the overall cautious stance that is being seen across markets today especially with the prevailing concerns over the Covid-19 outbreak and other geo-political issues.

“We have planned an exciting year ahead for Maybank, given that it is our 60th anniversary in 2020, particularly with a number of market-leading digital offerings.

“We will continue to focus on our digital agenda to help deliver greater efficiency and seek additional revenue streams for the future, while maintaining our emphasis on stringent risk and cost management to cushion the group from the uncertainties ahead.

“At the same time, we will closely monitor the current situation and ensure that our business continuity initiatives are able to mitigate the impact to our business,” he said.

At the midday break, Maybank shares were 0.48% or 4 sen higher at RM8.37, valuing it at RM94.09 billion.