KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — Public Bank Bhd’s net profit rose to RM5.59 billion in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018 (FY18), up 2.2 per cent from RM5.47 billion achieved in the previous year.
Revenue increased to RM22.04 billion in FY18 from RM20.86 billion previously, while basic earnings per share stood at 144.37 sen versus 141.66 sen before.
Founder, chairman emeritus, director and adviser Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow said the group continued to sustain stable profitability and a healthy balance sheet growth in 2018 due to its continuous efforts to drive loans and deposits business, coupled with its strong asset quality and prudent cost management.
“The group continued to sustain its leading position amongst domestic banks with lowest gross impaired loan ratio of 0.5 per cent and most efficient cost-to-income ratio of 33.0 per cent, leading to net return-on-equity ratio of 14.8 per cent for 2018,” he said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.
With a stable financial performance in FY18, Teh said a second interim dividend of 37 sen per share was declared and would be paid on March 14, 2019, based on the dividend entitlement date of March 7, 2019.
“Together with the first interim dividend of 32 sen per share, the full-year dividend for 2018 amounts to 69 sen. This represents a total dividend payout of RM2.7 billion and 47.9 per cent of the group’s net profit in 2018,” he said.
Touching on the group’s prospects, Teh said despite the challenging external headwinds in 2019 posing downside risks to the domestic environment, the Malaysian economy was expected to remain on a steady growth path.
“Underpinned by the resilience in private sector activity, the overall outlook for the domestic banking sector is likely to remain stable,” he said.
Teh said there would be continued growth opportunities for the domestic banking industry, underscored by ongoing demand for affordable housing, and the growth of small and medium enterprises.
“With the mass market being the key target segment, the group continues to expect growth arising from the growing private sector economy.
“It will continue to focus on organic growth strategy and sharpen its competencies to strengthen long-term growth momentum,” he added.
At close of trading today, Public Bank’s share price rose 6.0 sen to RM25.06 with 4.40 million shares traded. — Bernama
