KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 30): Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) has returned to the black in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2020 (3QFY20), with a net profit of RM258.4 million, compared with a net loss of RM12.51 million in the preceding quarter, due to a reduction in funding cost.

Revenue, however, fell 13.63% to RM765.57 million from RM886.35 million in 2QFY19, the group’s filing with Bursa Malaysia showed.

On a year-on-year basis, the group’s net profit was up 51.76% over the RM170.16 million reported for 3QFY19, while revenue rose 1.86% from RM751.63 million.

MBSB did not declare any dividend in the quarter.

The group said the better net profit margin can be attributed to a drop in funding cost by RM61.35 million (2QFY20) and by RM106.78 million (3QFY19), which was partially due to the withdrawal of higher term deposit costs, as well as the impact from the Overnight Policy Rate reduction.

For the nine months ended Sept 30, the group’s net profit fell 52.12% to RM172.48 million, from RM360.21 million a year earlier. Revenue for the  period was up 7.43% to RM2.39 billion, from RM2.23 billion previously.

MBSB said its performance for FY20 is affected by the Covid-19 outbreak in the country and the impact of the moratorium granted to eligible customers.

“The group acknowledges the cautious sentiment by both retail and corporate segments, due to some economic uncertainties still looming.

“Nevertheless, these sentiments may improve as we are encouraged by the expectations of progress on the economic recovery, coupled with the implementation of Budget 2021 that shall provide a major relief to B40 and M40 segments,” said MBSB president and CEO Datuk Seri Ahmad Zaini Othman.

“With the availability of vaccines next year, this is also a huge positive to market sentiment. In the meantime, we continue to support our customers who are experiencing financial setbacks due to the pandemic and as at 30 Sept 2020, we have assisted over seven thousand applicants with various assistance programs,” he added.  

MBSB’s share price closed 0.5 sen or 0.86% lower at 58.5 sen today, valuing the group at RM4.08 billion.