KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd’s pre-tax profit rose to RM5.104 billion in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2012 compared toRM4.878 billion posted in the same period in 2011.
During the period, revenue surged to RM14.058 billion fromRM12.756 billion previously, the banking group said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia here.
In a separate statement, Founder and Chairman Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow said the banking group has achieved another milestone as its pre-tax profit for financial year 2012 surpassed the RM5 billion mark for the first time.
He said the group’s balance sheet position remained strong and continued to be supportive of loans growth.
Maintaining upward momentum, the group’s gross loans grew by 11.3 per cent during the year to RM198 billion as at end-2012 with domestic loans growing at a faster pace of 12.5 per cent over the same period, he said.
“The loan growth was funded mainly by customer deposits which also recorded a steady growth of 12.3 per cent, with domestic customer deposits increasing by 13 per cent in 2012, resulting in a stable and healthy loan-to-deposit ratio of 87.1 per cent as at the end of 2012,” Teh added.
Despite the strong loan growth in 2012, he said the group’s loan impairment allowance declined by 14.5 per cent with an improved gross impaired loan ratio of 0.7 per cent.
The banking group’s strong asset quality was attributed to its consistent adoption of stringent credit policies and effectiveness in credit assessment, approval, monitoring and recovery processes.
Following the strong performance in 2012, the board of directors has declared a second interim single-tier dividend of 30 sen.
Together with the first interim single-tier dividend of 20 sen which was paid in August 2012, the total dividend for 2012 is 50 sen.
The total dividend paid and payable for last year amounts toRM1.75 billion and represents a total payout of 45.3 per cent of the group’s net profit for 2012.
On the outlook for the Malaysian banking industry, Teh said intense competition for both loans and deposits market share is expected to continue to erode net interest margin.
For Public Bank, its strategies remain unchanged as it will continue to focus on its core retail banking and financing business, whilst maintaining its prudent credit policies as well as upholding strong corporate governance to support long-term sustainable growth.
It is expected to maintain its earnings momentum and record satisfactory performance for this year.
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