Public Bank Q3 net profit increases to RM1.24b
KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd’s net profit rose 3.1 per cent to RM1.24 billion in the third quarter ended September 30 on higher net interest income and Islamic banking income.
The group posted RM1.2 billion net profit a year ago.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the group said its revenue increased 2.4 per cent to RM5.03 billion from RM4.91 billion previously.
Public Bank founder and chairman Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow said headwinds emanating from Brexit implication, policy shifts in major economies and geopolitical issues would continue to weigh on the economic outlook.
“For the Malaysian economy, while headwinds continue to pose downside pressure to growth, expectations are for a healthy expansion, given the support from domestic demand,” he said in a statement.
For the nine-month period, Public Bank’s net profit increased 4.3 per cent to RM3.72 billion from RM3.57 billion.
“The group has demonstrated the ability to generate stable profitability when the operating environment continued to present challenges to the business.
“This was attributed to its solid strategy in strengthening its niches in the retail banking business,” said Teh.
In the first nine months, the group’s revenue grew 5.4 per cent, mainly due to its continued healthy loan and deposit growth at annualised rates of 7.2 and 7.4 per cent, respectively.
The group’s cost-to-income ratio stood at 32.5 per cent, while low gross impaired loan ratio was 0.5 per cent.
Public Bank’s total loans grew at an annualised rate of 7.2 per cent to RM288 billion.
The bank continued to achieve above-industry loan performance, with its domestic loan growth standing at 7.8 per cent compared with the domestic banking industry’s growth of 2.8 per cent.
“The group’s lending activities continued to be driven by the extension of credit mainly for the purchase of residential properties and passenger vehicles, as well as to the small and medium enterprises,” it said.
It achieved 7.4 per cent growth in total deposits for the nine months.