KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (Q3’23) rose 6.9% to RM1.70 billion from RM1.59 billion in the same period last year due to the effect of the Prosperity Tax in 2022.
Revenue surged to RM6.48 billion from RM5.50 billion previously.
For the quarter under review, Public Bank said its net interest income and Islamic banking income decreased RM139.8 million (4.9%) due to the effect of the Overnight Policy Rate increases in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.
“Other operating expenses increased RM43.2 million (4.0%), whereas non-interest and financing income decreased marginally by RM3.8 million (0.6%).
“These were partially mitigated by the decrease in loan impairment allowance by RM62.0 million (64.6%), as adequate pre-emptive allowance has been made previously,“ it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.
For the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2023, Public Bank saw its net profit expand to RM5.03 billion from RM4.41 billion previously, while revenue jumped to RM18.87 billion from RM15.36 billion in the corresponding period last year.
In a separate statement, Public Bank said its net interest income increased 0.7% and non-interest income grew 3.4% in the first nine months of 2023 compared with the corresponding period in 2022, with impaired loans ratio remaining stable at 0.58%.
The group’s total loans increased at an annualised growth rate of 5.9% to RM393.6 billion while domestic loan portfolio recorded a strong annualised growth rate of 5.7% compared with the banking industry’s growth rate of 4.1% during the same period.
Total customer deposits grew at an annualised growth rate of 4.7% to RM408.6 billion, it added.
The bank said, as of end-September 2023, it sustained a healthy capital level with common equity Tier 1 capital ratio, Tier 1 capital ratio and total capital ratio standing at 14.5%, 14.5% and 17.4%, respectively, with liquidity coverage ratio staying above the regulatory requirement, at a healthy level of 131.4%.
Public Bank said its overseas operations contributed 7.5% to the group’s profit in the first nine months ended September 2023, mainly from its Hong Kong and Indochina operations. – Bernama
