KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd's net profit expanded 12.4 per cent to RM1.91 billion in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2024 (Q3 2024) from RM1.7 billion in Q3 2023, supported by the increase in net interest and Islamic banking income.
Its net interest and Islamic banking income rose RM147.7 million on improved net interest/financing margin and healthy loans/financing growth.
The bank's non-interest income for the quarter under review increased 18 per cent, thanks to higher overall net fee and commission income and foreign exchange income.
Public Bank's revenue for the quarter expanded 5.1 per cent to RM6.81 billion from RM6.48 billion in the same period last year.
For the cumulative nine months, the bank's net profit rose to RM5.35 billion from RM5.03 billion a year ago, while revenue stood at RM20.29 billion compared to RM18.87 billion in 9MFY23.
Its total loan portfolio expanded 5.2 per cent on an annualised basis to RM414.5 billion. In terms of the domestic loan portfolio, it increased at an annualised growth rate of 6.2 per cent to RM390.1 billion, exceeding the Malaysian industry's annualised loan growth of 4.5 per cent.
The improvement was mainly driven by the group's core financing segments, including domestic residential properties financing, hire purchase financing and SME financing, which recorded annualised growth rates of 5.4 per cent, 14.4 per cent, and 3.5 per cent respectively, with leading market shares of 20.2 per cent, 31.7 per cent and 17.3 per cent respectively.
Its total customer deposits grew by an annualised rate of 3.9 per cent to RM425.1 billion, whereas domestic customer deposits saw an annualised increase of 4.7 per cent to RM398.5 billion, mainly supported by sustained growth in core deposits.
As of September 2024, the bank reported a stable gross impaired loans ratio of 0.6 per cent
Its non-interest income increased 9.8 per cent year-on-year to RM2.06 billion, due mainly to strong growth in unit trust and stockbroking income of 13.6 per cent and 61.6 per cent respectively.
"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 cost.
"Along with its strong fundamentals and prudent management, the group achieved a higher net return on equity of 13.2 per cent and efficient cost-to-income ratio of 34.9 per cent," said Pubic Bank managing director and chief executive officer Tan Seri Dr Tay Ah Lek in a statement.
Tay said the group continues to see opportunities for business banking growth.