RHB Bank Bhd’s net profit jumped 7.7% to RM2.48 bil for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2019, from RM2.31 bil in the previous year.
The better performance was mainly due to higher net income, lower expected credit losses for loans and higher write-back of impairment losses for financial assets.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today (Feb 27), RHB said its revenue rose to RM13.53 bil from RM12.69 bil in 2018.
For the fourth quarter, net profit jumped 9.8% to RM621 mil from RM565 mil in the corresponding quarter in 2018, while revenue stood at RM3.4 bil versus RM3.3 bil previously.
For the year, net fund-based income increased by 0.4% to RM4.96 mil in the previous year.
“Gross fund-based income increased by 5.2% on the back of a 4.3% increase in gross loans and financing, while funding and interest expense rose 9.2% year-on-year (yoy) due to the impact from the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) hike in January 2018 and higher deposit base,” it said.
Meanwhile, the group’s gross loans and financing grew by 4.3% yoy to RM176.2 bil, supported by growth in all businesses, notably mortgages and small and medium enterprises, while Singapore loans grew by 7.6% yoy.
Domestic loans and financing grew by 3.9% yoy.
Customer deposits grew by 6.5% yoy to RM190.6 bil as at Dec 31, 2019, largely attributable to growth in fixed deposits, while total current and savings account (CASA) increased by 5.5%, with CASA composition at 25.7%.
The group has also proposed a final dividend of 18.5 sen per share or 60% of the net profit for the second half of FY19. Total dividend for the year amounted to 31 sen per share or a 50.1% payout.
RHB said it expects the business outlook for 2020 to remain challenging.
“With the recent OPR cut and potentially further cuts, our net interest income would be adversely impacted. We are strengthening our efforts to mitigate any possible adverse effects on our asset quality,” the bank said. – Feb 27, 2020, Bernama
