KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd registered a slightly lower net profit of RM1.76 billion for the second quarter ended June 30, compared to RM1.78 billion recorded in the same period last year, due to the effect of lower non-taxable income in the current year.
However, the banking group’s revenue for the quarter rose to RM7.35 billion compared to RM6.69 billion posted in the same period last year, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.
For the quarter under review, it said net interest and Islamic banking income increased by RM138.6 million or 5.1% on healthy loan or financing growth while non-interest income increased by RM103.3 million or 15.3%, which was supported by the income contribution from the recently acquired general insurance business and higher investment income.
“The improvement in revenue performance was partially offset by higher other operating expenses of RM100.1 million on higher personnel and administrative costs,“ said Public Bank.
For the first six months, the banking group recorded net profit of RM3.5 billion on the back of revenue of RM14.66 billion, continued to be supported by healthy loans and customer deposits growth.
Meanwhile, in a press release, Public Bank managing director and CEO Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek said despite the significant headwinds, Public Bank group’s resilient business model and prudent management continued to enable the group to ride through challenges.
“The group’s core businesses continued to deliver commendable performance, with return on equity standing at 12.6 per cent, while cost management remained prudent with an efficient cost-to-income ratio of 35.3%,” he added.
With the good performance for the first half of 2025, Public Bank has declared an interim dividend of 10.5 sen per share, amounting to RM2.04 billion, which represents a payout ratio of 58.1% of the Public Bank group’s net profit for the six months ended June 30, 2025.
For the first half of 2025, the group said total loans grew at an annualised rate of 5.1%.
The annualised domestic loans grew at a stronger rate of 6.1%, which was higher than the domestic banking industry’s annualised loan growth rate of 4.3%.
“Public Bank group’s domestic loan growth was mainly contributed by the key lending activities in the retail banking segment, namely residential property financing, hire purchase financing and commercial property financing, which grew by an annualised rate of 5.3%, 13.4% and 6% respectively.
“These key segments continued to command strong market shares of 20.1%, 32.9% and 32% respectively,“ it added. – Bernama