KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd
, which saw its net profit up 12.4% in the third quarter ended Sept 30 (3Q24), continues to see opportunities for business banking growth.
“The group will continue to proactively embrace product innovation and enhance product features to meet the evolving demand of customers. Nonetheless, the group will always remain prudent and continue to strengthen its fundamental resilience to ensure stability and sustainability in creating value for its stakeholders,” managing director and chief executive officer Tan Sri Dr Tay Ah Lek said in a statement.
Public Bank’s net profit rose 12.4% to RM1.9bil in 3Q24 compared with RM1.7mil in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue for the quarter rose to RM6.8bil against RM6.5bil while earnings per share climbed to 9.85 sen, up from 8.76 sen a year ago.
For the first nine months of 2024 (9M24), pre-tax profit and net profit increased by 6.0% and 6.2%, respectively, reaching RM6.86bil and RM5.35bil.
The bank’s net interest and financing income showed further improvement, increasing by 4.4% to RM8.24bil during the first nine months of 2024.
Its non-interest income grew by 9.8% to RM2.06bil in 9M24, as compared with the corresponding period last year.
Tay said the commendable achievements in the first nine months of 2024 were mainly due to the stable growth in loans and deposits as well as stabilising net interest margin.
“This is further contributed by higher non-interest income and lower credit costs. Along with its strong fundamentals and prudent management, the group achieved a higher net return on equity of 13.2% and efficient cost-to-income ratio of 34.9%,” he said.
Public Bank’s asset quality remained sound with the gross impaired loan ratio remaining stable at 0.6% and loan loss coverage sustaining at a prudent level of 153.6%.
In the first nine months of 2024, Public Bank’s total loan portfolio grew by 5.2% year-on-year (YoY), reaching RM414.5bil. The domestic loan portfolio saw an annualised growth rate of 6.2%, rising to RM390.1bil, surpassing the Malaysian industry’s annualised loan growth of 4.5%.
Public Bank said this growth was mainly driven by its key financing areas, including domestic residential property financing, hire purchase financing, and SME financing. These segments recorded annualised growth rates of 5.4%, 14.4%, and 3.5%, respectively, with market shares of 20.2%, 31.7%, and 17.3%.
Total newly approved domestic loans for the first nine months of 2024 increased by 16.9%, as compared with the same period last year.
The bank’s total customer deposits grew by an annualised rate of 3.9% to RM425.1bil, whereas domestic customer deposits saw an annualised increase of 4.7% to RM398.5bil, mainly supported by sustained growth in core deposits.
Public Bank maintained a healthy liquidity position, with a gross loan-to-fund and equity ratio of 83.0% as of September 2024.
As of September 2024, the bank reported a stable gross impaired loans ratio of 0.6%.
The group remained cautious with loan provisioning, achieving a loan loss coverage of 153.6%, well above the industry average of 90.8%. With regulatory reserves included, the coverage ratio reached 202.2%.
Public Bank sustained a robust capital position, with Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio, Tier 1 capital ratio, and total capital ratio of 14.3%, 14.3%, and 17.2%, respectively.
Its liquidity coverage ratio was kept at a comfortable 127.1%, above the regulatory requirement.
