Public Bank's Q3 net profit rises 13.5% to RM1.4 billion

PETALING JAYA: Public Bank Bhd’s net profit expanded 13.5% to RM1.4 billion for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 against RM1.24 billion in the previous corresponding period, underpinned by higher net interest income, net fee and commission income, investment income and foreign exchange income.
Its revenue grew 5.6% from RM5.03 billion to RM5.31 billion.
Public Bank’s nine-month net profit rose 7% from RM3.72 billion to RM3.98 billion on the back of a 3.3% increase in revenue from RM15.02 billion to RM15.51 billion.
“The macro environment and the more stringent regulatory requirements have presented many challenges to the banking business. Notwithstanding this, the Public Bank Group’s strategy has continued to deliver values and returns. The group’s ability to sustain its business performance in this challenging market condition demonstrates its underlying strength as reflected in the group retaining its competitive position,” said founder and chairman Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow in a statement.
For the first nine months of 2017, Public Bank’s total loans recorded 3.3% annualised growth to RM301.3 billion, with domestic loans portfolio growing at a higher annualised rate of 4.6%, as compared with the banking industry’s annualised growth rate of 3.5%.
As at the end-September, it registered a gross impaired loan ratio of 0.5%.
Public Bank remained well capitalised with its common equity Tier 1 capital ratio, Tier 1 capital ratio and total capital ratio standing at 11.7%, 12.4% and 15.4% respectively as at the end-September.
On deposit-taking, its total deposits grew at an annualised rate of 5.4% to RM322.6 billion for the first nine months of the year.
Non-interest income rose 7.6% on the back of the favourable growth in income from the group’s unit trust management business, as well as fee income from its transactional banking services.
Public Bank sustained its cost-to-income ratio at 32.8%, significantly better than the banking industry’s average cost-to-income ratio of 45.8%.
Meanwhile, overseas operations continued to drive revenue growth for the group, contributing 9.8% to its pre-tax profit, mainly attributed to its operations in Hong Kong and Cambodia.
Looking ahead, Teh expects the banking sector to continue to benefit from the growing economy. “Nevertheless, we remain cautious as downside risks will continue to exert pressure on consumer sentiment,” he said.
Public Bank’s share price was up 2 sen or 0.1% to RM20.48 today on some 8.9 million units done.