Malaysia's listed banking sector delivered another strong quarter, with the 10 Bursa-listed banking groups in this comparison generating a combined RM9.58 billion in net profit for the three months ended 30 June 2026. That was about 3.6% higher than the same group earned a year earlier, showing that the sector remained broadly resilient despite uneven performances between individual banks.
Maybank remained far ahead of the pack with RM2.69 billion in quarterly profit, followed by CIMB at RM1.94 billion and Public Bank at RM1.82 billion. Together, these three banking groups accounted for roughly two-thirds of the combined profit in this comparison. However, looking purely at profit size tells only part of the story, because some of the smaller banks recorded much faster growth.
A Quick Note on Different Financial Years
Not all Malaysian banks use the same financial year, so the quarter labels can be confusing. Maybank, Public Bank, CIMB, RHB, Bank Islam, Affin Bank and MBSB classify April to June as their second quarter of FY2026, while Hong Leong Bank treats the same period as its fourth quarter because its financial year ends in June.
AmBank and Alliance Bank, meanwhile, use a March year-end, meaning April to June is their first quarter of FY2027. To make the comparison consistent, every figure here covers the same three-month period ending 30 June 2026, regardless of what each bank calls the quarter.
Maybank Remains Malaysia's Biggest Profit Generator
Maybank once again took the top spot with RM2.69 billion in net profit, up 2.4% from RM2.63 billion a year earlier. Profit before tax increased 3.7% to RM3.64 billion, while return on equity improved to 12% from 11.6%.
The more interesting movement came from costs and credit quality. Net impairment provisions fell sharply by 51.4% to RM230 million, operating expenses declined 2.5%, and net interest margin improved by 10 basis points to 2.10%. Fee income also performed strongly, with wealth management fees rising 61.5% and investment banking-related fees increasing 58.4%.
Maybank's growth rate was not especially high, but its sheer scale remains difficult to match. The bank alone contributed around 28% of the total quarterly profit generated by the 10 banking groups.
CIMB Holds Second Place
CIMB reported RM1.938 billion in quarterly net profit, up 2.6% from RM1.889 billion a year earlier. Revenue slipped slightly to RM5.56 billion from RM5.60 billion, although total income improved 2.8% compared with the previous quarter.
Non-interest income rose 6% to RM1.83 billion, while net interest income increased 1.3% to RM3.73 billion. CIMB also continued improving asset quality, with its gross impaired loan ratio falling to 1.6%, which the group described as an all-time low.
Only around RM114 million separated CIMB from Public Bank, making the race for second place much closer than Maybank's comfortable lead at the top.
Public Bank Continues Its Steady Performance
Public Bank generated RM1.825 billion in net profit, an increase of 3.7% from RM1.76 billion in the same period last year. Revenue reached around RM7.61 billion, while non-interest income jumped 21.3%, supported partly by stronger unit trust-related income.
The bank continued to stand out for asset quality. Its gross impaired loans ratio was just 0.54%, significantly below the industry average of 1.43%, while loan loss coverage stood at 138.9%. Total loans reached RM458.9 billion.
Public Bank may not have produced spectacular profit growth, but its combination of strong earnings and extremely low impaired-loan levels keeps it firmly among Malaysia's most consistently profitable banking groups.
Hong Leong Bank Delivers the Strongest Growth Among the Big Four
Hong Leong Bank reported about RM1.24 billion in profit for the April-to-June period, up 14.2% from roughly RM1.09 billion a year earlier. That made it the strongest profit-growth performer among the four banks earning more than RM1 billion during the quarter.
Gross loans and financing increased 7.7% year on year to RM226.3 billion, while the gross impaired loan ratio remained low at 0.57%. The quarter also completed Hong Leong Bank's FY2026, with full-year profit after tax rising 6% to RM4.53 billion.
Compared with the low-single-digit growth recorded by Maybank, CIMB and Public Bank, Hong Leong's double-digit increase stood out clearly.
RHB and AmBank Were Almost Flat
RHB Bank reported RM807.15 million in quarterly net profit, only 0.45% higher than the RM803.5 million achieved a year earlier. Revenue declined to RM4.36 billion from RM4.50 billion, making the quarter noticeably softer than its first-quarter performance.
The first half looked better, with net profit rising 7.1% to RM1.66 billion and expected credit losses falling 12.7%. The contrast highlights how much stronger RHB's first quarter had been, when profit grew 14.2% year on year.
AmBank produced a similarly quiet result. Its profit after tax and minority interests edged up just 0.8% to RM520.2 million, while net income increased 2.8% to RM1.33 billion. Gross loans, advances and financing grew 7% to RM147.8 billion, although net interest margin narrowed to 1.93% from 2.01%.
Alliance Bank Was the Quarter's Fastest Grower
Alliance Bank may have ranked seventh in absolute profit, but it delivered the strongest growth rate of the entire group. Net profit jumped 25% to RM248.3 million, compared with around RM198.7 million a year earlier.
Revenue grew by a much smaller 2.5% to RM630.9 million, meaning the improvement came largely from better credit performance and recoveries. Net credit cost improved to just 0.3 basis points, while wealth management fees increased 46.6% and banking services fees climbed 75.8%.
This was one of the quarter's more interesting results. A relatively modest increase in income translated into a much larger jump in profit because less money was being absorbed by credit costs.
Bank Islam Shows a Q2 Recovery
Bank Islam recorded RM139.12 million in net profit, up 9.8% from RM126.69 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 6.3% to RM1.36 billion, while profit before tax improved to RM184.93 million.
Higher net fund-based income, fees and commissions, along with gains from financial asset revaluations and foreign exchange, supported the improvement. The quarter was also a rebound from a weaker start to the year, when first-quarter profit had fallen year on year.
Even after that recovery, first-half net profit was only 0.5% higher than the corresponding period in 2025, showing that the stronger second quarter mainly helped offset earlier weakness.
Affin Bank Slips Despite Higher Revenue
Affin Bank was one of only two banking groups in the comparison to report lower quarterly earnings. Net profit fell 11.1% to RM127.52 million, even though revenue increased 5% to RM647.21 million.
The decline was mainly attributed to higher impairment allowances and a smaller contribution from associates. An additional RM38.1 million in impairment allowances and an RM18.4 million reduction in the share of associates' results outweighed stronger net income and lower operating expenses.
The bank continued expanding lending, however, with loans, advances and financing reaching RM84.1 billion in the first half, up 13.6% year on year.
MBSB Records the Steepest Profit Decline
MBSB had the weakest year-on-year result among the 10 banking groups. Net profit attributable to shareholders fell 53.7% to RM44.22 million, compared with RM95.56 million a year earlier.
Revenue declined 11.1% to RM829.94 million, while profit before tax fell to RM61.42 million from RM133.81 million. The first-half comparison was similarly weak, with attributable profit dropping to RM74.36 million from RM180.24 million.
The size of the decline placed MBSB clearly at the bottom of the growth ranking, significantly worse than Affin Bank's 11.1% contraction.
Profit Size and Profit Growth Tell Different Stories
The quarter highlights an important distinction between absolute profit and growth momentum. Maybank remained by far the largest profit generator, but Alliance Bank grew much faster from a smaller earnings base. Hong Leong Bank also stood out by combining billion-ringgit quarterly profit with a healthy 14.2% year-on-year increase.
At the other end of the spectrum, RHB and AmBank were largely flat, while Affin Bank and MBSB were the only two groups to report declines. This makes the sector look much more varied once the headline profit rankings are separated from the growth rates.
Final Thoughts
For the three months ended 30 June 2026, Maybank remained Malaysia's most profitable listed banking group, earning RM2.69 billion and contributing more than a quarter of the combined RM9.58 billion generated by the 10 banks reviewed. CIMB and Public Bank followed closely behind, while Hong Leong Bank recorded the strongest growth among the top four.
The standout growth story was Alliance Bank, with profit rising 25%, while MBSB experienced the sharpest decline at 53.7%. Overall, the sector still managed modest combined growth of around 3.6%, supported by lower credit costs at several banks, improving fee income and generally healthy asset quality.
So if the question is simply which Malaysian bank made the most money in Q2 2026, the answer remains Maybank by a comfortable margin. But when the question changes to which bank improved the fastest, the ranking looks very different.
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