KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd's net profit grew 8.2 per cent to RM6.12 billion in 2022, after taking into account the one-off impact of prosperity tax.
The bank's pre-tax profit of RM8.83 billion crossed the RM8 billion mark for the first time, representing a growth of 19.9 per cent from RM7.37 billion posted in 2021.
As a result, its earnings per share increased to 31.5 sen in 2022.
Public Bank said its gross loans grew 5.3 per cent to RM377 billion last year, with domestic loans growing by 5.2 per cent.
In terms of funding, the bank's customer deposits grew 3.8 per cent to RM395 billion in 2022.
Public Bank managing director and CEO Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek said in 2022, the bank continued to outperform its banking peers.
"The group is the most cost-efficient bank in Malaysia with the lowest cost to income ratio of 31.5 per cent, as compared to the industry's average cost to income ratio of 44.2 per cent.
"In terms of asset quality, the group remains the best amongst all Malaysian banks, with the lowest gross impaired loans ratio of 0.4 per cent. This was significantly better than the banking industry's gross impaired loans ratio of 1.7 per cent," he said in a statement today.
Tay added that in view of the bank's resilient financial performance last year, a third interim dividend of five sen was paid in March 2023.
He noted that together with the first interim dividend of eight sen paid in September 2022 and second interim dividend of four sen paid in December 2022, shareholders would have received a total dividend of 17 sen per share for 2022.
"This is higher than 15.2 sen paid in 2021. The total dividends paid amounted to RM3.3 billion, representing 53.9 per cent of the group's net profit for 2022," he said.
Looking forward, Tay said Public Bank remained mindful of the various global economic headwinds and would continue to balance between maintaining sustainable growth and managing risks.
In meeting these challenges, he said the bank would continue to operate efficiently and maintain prudent credit risk management.
"We will also sustain strong corporate governance and sound risk management practices. We strive to proactively manage any potential asset quality risks.
"For customers who may continue to face financial constraints, we will provide further assistance, including the necessary financial support for individuals and small and medium enterprises," he added.
Public Bank will intensify digital transformation, focus on its sustainability agenda, and continue to sustain its superior asset quality to ensure sustainable earnings growth moving forward.
With its track record of stable and resilient financial performance, Tay said Public Bank was positive that its sound fundamentals and prudent credit practices would enable it to continue delivering long-term value to its stakeholders.
Commenting on cybersecurity, Tay said the bank remained vigilant in combating scams and had implemented various measures and initiatives in safeguarding its customers' online banking transactions.
He noted that a dedicated complaint channel has been established and the case management operation hours were also extended to 24 hours for customers to report online scams and fraud related matters.
In 2022, Public Bank helped 300,000 of its customers from being scammed, by preventing close to 100 million transactions totalling about RM500 million from being fraudulently transferred into mule accounts.