Bank of Maldives posts MVR 1.3 billion half-year profit, up 21 per cent

Bank of Maldives reported a net profit after tax of MVR 1.3 billion for the first six months of 2026, up 21 per cent on the same period last year, in results the bank released on Thursday and described as a continuation of its record growth of recent years.

Half-year revenue reached MVR 3.2 billion. Net interest income supplied MVR 1.6 billion of it and fees and commissions a further MVR 830 million, producing an operating profit of MVR 1.8 billion at a cost-to-income ratio of 28 per cent — a level of efficiency few banks in the region approach. The second quarter alone contributed MVR 887 million in operating profit and MVR 647 million in net profit.

The balance sheet tells the same story at greater scale. Total assets stood at MVR 62.8 billion at the end of June, customer deposits at MVR 41.6 billion, and the gross loan book at MVR 30.4 billion — after MVR 8 billion in new lending across the half, spread over multiple sectors of the economy.

The bank is not short of plans for the second half. Alongside the results it pointed to expanded access to housing finance, the launch of a Maldives AI Lab in partnership with MINDCo, leadership development programmes, and — most consequentially for a bank of its size — preparations to access the international debt capital markets.

The result lands in an economy that is anything but easy. The state's finances are strained, dollars remain rationed, and the tourism arrivals that ultimately feed the banking system are running behind last year. Against that backdrop, the national bank's half-year is a reminder of where the country's financial weight actually sits.

BML's full results statement was published on its website on 30 July.