BML posts record MVR 1.93 billion profit for first nine months
Bank of Maldives earned MVR 1.93 billion in profit after tax for the nine months to 30 September, up 26 percent year-on-year and the highest in its history for any comparable period.
Bank of Maldives (BML) has reported its best-ever nine-month performance, with profit after tax of MVR 1.93 billion for the period ended 30 September 2026. This is 26 percent higher than the MVR 1.53 billion earned in the same period last year. For the whole of 2025, the bank’s profit after tax was MVR 2.47 billion.
Third-quarter profit reached MVR 647.2 million, up 36 percent from MVR 475.4 million in the third quarter of 2025. Net interest income for the quarter rose to MVR 874.8 million from MVR 729.7 million, while non-interest income was MVR 377.5 million, compared with MVR 355.9 million a year earlier.
BML’s balance sheet grew sharply. Total assets rose to MVR 65.6 billion from MVR 55.8 billion at the end of 2025. Net loans and advances increased to MVR 32.9 billion from MVR 25.2 billion, and customer deposits grew 14 percent to MVR 42.4 billion from MVR 37.2 billion. The bank disbursed MVR 12.1 billion in new loans in the first nine months, more than the total disbursed in all of 2025.
Asset quality improved. The ratio of credit-impaired loans fell to 4.8 percent from 6.0 percent at the end of last year, with provision coverage of 100 percent. The bank’s cost-to-income ratio was 28 percent and return on equity was 14 percent.
BML’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 38 percent, more than three times the regulatory minimum of 12 percent. The ratio was 48 percent at the end of 2025, and the bank said the decline reflects capital deployed into new lending and investments. Liquid assets were 36.5 percent of customer deposits, and the loan-to-deposit ratio was 77.6 percent, within the bank’s internal limit of 90 percent.
The report also set out how much foreign currency the bank handled. Outward foreign currency payments totalled USD 2.86 billion in the first nine months, 27 percent more than a year earlier, across close to 373,600 outward remittances. Inward flows, through inward remittances and net card settlements, were USD 2.96 billion, up 15 percent.
In addition, BML made USD 722 million available to customers in exchange for rufiyaa, almost equal to the USD 734 million provided in the whole of 2025. This works out to a monthly average of USD 80 million, 31 percent above last year’s average.
By category, card transactions took USD 336 million, of which e-commerce accounted for USD 208 million. Telegraphic transfers took USD 224 million, already 28 percent more than the USD 175 million provided in all of 2025. Travel cash was USD 86 million, including USD 5.8 million for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims. Education received USD 40 million, and medical needs USD 33 million, more than double the USD 14 million provided in 2025.
BML said September is consistently the weakest month for foreign currency inflows. Inflows in September were USD 240 million, about 27 percent below the average for the first nine months, and the month also coincides with the start of the academic year, when education payments peak. The bank said demand for dollars is growing faster than the seasonal flow of foreign currency into the banking system, and that inflows are expected to strengthen as the peak tourist season begins in the fourth quarter.
Among its business developments in the quarter, BML launched SplitPay, which lets credit cardholders spread purchases above MVR 1,500 over 3 to 24 months. It also enhanced its Advance Merchant Settlement facility, now offering up to MVR 2 million, and launched Youth Entrepreneurship Financing of up to MVR 150,000 at 7 percent. A dedicated Liveaboard Financing facility was introduced at 9.5 percent a year, and seven new branches brought the bank’s network to 55 across all 20 atolls. BML also signed an agreement with Finastra to modernise its core banking platform.
On the stock market, BML shares last traded at MVR 69.50 on 30 September, with a market capitalisation of MVR 11.22 billion, a dividend yield of 2.88 percent and a price-earnings ratio of 4.33. During the quarter the shares traded between MVR 62.00 and MVR 74.80, with 64,224 shares changing hands in 625 trades. The government holds 50.80 percent of the bank, and the number of shareholders rose by 112 to 6,503.
BML said it enters the final quarter from a position of strength and expects to deliver a strong full-year result.
