KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Bank Bhd fought back against headwinds in the third quarter of the year, but managed to uphold a firm financial performance with a slightly lower bottomline.
In the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023, the banking group said net profit was RM649.95mil, down from RM695.41mil in the same quarter in 2022, representing a basic earnings per share of 15.16 sen as compared to 16.51 sen.
The group's revenue rose to RM4.22bil during the quarter under review from RM3.45bil in the previous corresponding quarter.
Over the nine months period, RHB recorded a net profit of RM2.22bil, which led the net profit of RM1.91bil in 9MFY22.
Revenue for the period, meanwhile, was RM12.18bil against RM9.21bil in the comparative 2022 period.
For 9MFY23, RHB posted a total income of RM5.75bil. Its net fund based income was RM4.11bil on the back of higher funding costs, mainly due to fixed deposit growth of 14.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) while net interest margin for the quarter was RM1.85bil.
Non-fund based income was RM1.64bil, primarily from the higher net gain on forex and derivatives and net trading and investment income.
The group's operating expense rose 3.3% to RM2.71bil from higher personnel costs, attributed mainly to collective agreement adjustments, and higher establishment and marketing costs.
This led to a higher cost-to-income ratio of 47.1% compared with 44.3% a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the group's expected credit loss reduced 81.4% to RM71.4mil, primarily due to writeback of management overlay.
RHB's gross loans and financing grew 3.4% year-to-date to RM219.4bil, on the back of mortgage, personal finance, auto finance, SME, and Singapore growth.
Customer deposits increased 4% year-to-date to RM236.1bil, mainly due to growth in Retail and SME deposits of 9.8%.
The current account savings account (Casa) composition stood at 26.9%.
"The group’s fundamentals remained strong as reflected in the healthy capital and liquidity position.
"We will remain vigilant as risks from external factors including recent developments in geopolitical tensions as well as challenges in certain markets where we operate, may dampen growth," said group managing director and CEO Mohd Rashid Mohamad in a statement.
