Public Bank’s 3Q net profit rises 16.8 pct to RM1.59 bln

KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd recorded a net profit of RM1.59 billion for the third quarter (3Q) ended Sept 30, 2022, up 16.8 per cent from RM1.36 billion a year earlier.

The improved performance was mainly due to a higher net interest income of RM338.1 million and a lower loan impairment allowance of RM228.5 million, partially offset by higher other operating expenses of RM101.5 million.

Revenue also increased to RM5.50 billion from RM4.81 billion previously.

For a nine-month period, the bank’s net profit improved by 3.0 per cent to RM4.40 billion from RM4.27 billion due to an additional tax charge arising from the one-off prosperity tax in the current period, while revenue surged to RM15.36 billion from RM14.76 billion.

In a statement, founder and chairman emeritus Tan Sri Dr Teh Hong Piow said the nine-month profit growth was mainly due to higher net interest income growth by 7.7 per cent and lower loan impairment allowances by 70.0 per cent, but partially offset by lower non-interest income by 11.0 per cent.

For the first nine months of 2022, the Public Bank Group’s loans and deposits continued to achieve healthy annualised growth of 5.8 per cent and 4.5 per cent, respectively.

“Backed by its strong fundamentals and prudent management, the group sustained a resilient net return equity of 12.4 per cent and an efficient cost-to-income ratio of 32.6 per cent. Gross impaired loans ratio remained strong at 0.3 per cent, despite the expiry of the Pakej Perlindungan Rakyat dan Pemulihan Ekonomi or PEMULIH repayment assistance programme,” he said.

In view of the favourable performance, the board of directors is declaring a second interim dividend of 4.0 sen per share, which will result in a total dividend payout of RM776.4 million.