Malayan Banking Bhd, the Malaysian bank, posted a 25 per cent rise in earnings for the second quarter 2012 due mostly to strong performances at its loans and wealth management divisions.

Net earnings for the three months to 30 June rose from MYR1.15 billion in the year-earlier period to MYR1.44 billion ($460.87 million), beating analysts' expectations of MYR1.14 billion for the quarter. 

For the half year, profit after tax and minority interest was up 21.2 per cent from the year-earlier period to MYR2.78 billion, on the back of an 18 per cent growth in revenue. Group profit before tax was 18 per cent higher at MYR3.92 billion. 

The bank's Singapore operations saw a 3.6 per cent rise in total income on the back of an 8.5 per cent increase in non-interest income and 1.4 per cent gain in net fund based income. In Indonesia, Maybank saw a 17 per cent growth in gross operating income for the half year to Rp3.69 trillion, while net interest income surged 32 per cent year-on-year. Its business in Pakistan, MCB Bank, also saw strong gains, with the profit before tax rising 7.3 per cent.

"The results reflect the success of our transformation journey to build our regional capabilities and network in a responsible manner," said Dato Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, president and chief executive of Maybank. 

The bank now records an asset base of MYR492.3 billion, which is 17.4 per cent higher than last year.