KUALA LUMPUR: After emerging from a strong fourth quarter last year pursuant to the recent conclusion of the earnings reporting season, the Malaysian banking sector appears to be poised to continue its strong run in the near term.
This would be true theoretically even as extraordinary factors which had encumbered bottom lines for the banks last year such as the “cukai makmur” or prosperity tax will not be continued anymore this year onwards.
Despite the effects of the one-off tax, Malaysian banks had projected great strength and mainly outperformed in the fourth quarter of last year, beating most analyst estimates.
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