Rate cut to affect Maybank earnings: MD.

MALAYAN Banking Bhd (Maybank) expects its earnings for the year ending June 30 2002 to be affected by the recent cut in its base lending rate (BLR) as well as a smaller loan growth.

Tougher competition in line with the easier liquidity situation will also pose as a challenge to the group, said its managing director Datuk Amirsham A. Aziz.

"It (the interest rates cut) will definitely cause a negative impact on our bottomline," he told reporters after a shareholders' meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

"The full impact will be felt from the second quarter (of the financial year) onwards," he said.

However, the bank does not expect any dramatic …