The bank opened eight new branches in Vietnam in 2023, bringing it to a total of 40 branches as of the end of the year.
PETALING JAYA: Public Bank Bhd
, which is expecting another challenging year in 2024, remains committed to its expansion plans in the region, particularly in Indo-China, capitalising on potential long-term regional growth prospects.
The bank in its 2023 annual report said that apart from focusing on the domestic market, it was also looking at growing its overseas operations.
It opened eight new branches in Vietnam in 2023, bringing it to a total of 40 branches as of the end of the year.
On Jan 1, 2024, the bank converted its operations in Laos into a wholly-owned subsidiary, which was renamed as Public Bank Lao Ltd.
“This will further strengthen the group’s business footprint in the Indochina region. With a total of 76 branches in Indochina, the group is well-positioned to capture emerging business opportunities in this fast-growing region,” chairman Lai Wan said.
Its domestic operations contributed 94.1% to the group’s pre-tax profit for 2023, while overseas operations contributed the remaining 5.9%, mainly from its Indo-China operations.
The pre-tax profit from its overseas operations fell 24.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM504.3mil in 2023 mainly due to the impact of the challenging operating environment on its Hong Kong business.
However, total loans and deposits of the group’s overseas operations grew 5.9% and 1.5% respectively in 2023. In particular, Cambodian Public Bank Plc recorded loan growth of 10.4%, while Public Bank Vietnam Ltd recorded double-digit deposit growth of 15.9%.
Overall, Public Bank saw its net profit declining 5.73% y-o-y in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (4Q23), as it was dragged by high allowance for loan impairment and higher operating expenses, as well as lower net interest income.
Its 4Q23 net profit was RM1.62bil compared with RM1.71bil a year ago while revenue rose 8% to RM6.55bil from RM6.06bil.
Despite persistent competitive pressure, its domestic loans and customer deposits grew 5.9% and 4.8%, respectively, in 2023.
For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023, Public Bank’s net profit increased 8.66% to RM6.65bil from RM6.12bil in the previous year, while revenue rose 18.91% to RM25.42bil from RM21.43bil.
Public Bank declared a 10-sen dividend per share for the quarter, bringing the total dividend per share for 2023 to 19 sen, amounting to RM3.69bil. This was higher than the total dividends paid in the past three years.
It continued to register sound asset quality with a gross impaired loan ratio of 0.59% as at the end of 2023, significantly lower than the banking industry’s gross impaired loan ratio of 1.65%. It registered a net return on equity of 13% and an efficient cost-to-income ratio of 33.7%.
