Chairman’s Review
The Founder and Chairman of Public Bank, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow said, “The Public Bank Group delivered another strong set of results with a record pre-tax profit of RM1.25 billion and net profit of RM941 million for the first quarter of 2012.”
With effect from this year, the Group adopted fully the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS) 139, which resulted in a lower collective assessment allowances on the Group’s loans and financing. This resulted in a write-back of excess collective assessment allowances, leading to an increase in the Group’s shareholders’ funds as at the beginning of 2012 by RM859 million, which in turn enhanced the Group’s core equity
capital ratio by 0.5%.
Tan Sri Teh highlighted that, “As a result of the retrospective application of MFRS 139,comparative pre-tax profit and net profit for the corresponding quarter in 2011 have been restated upwards by RM75 million and RM56 million respectively to RM1.17 billion and RM884 million respectively. Against the restated profits for the previous corresponding quarter, the Group’s pre-tax profit and net profit growth for the first
quarter of 2012 are 6.2% and 6.4% respectively.
Excluding the impact of the higher restated profits in the previous corresponding quarter, the Public Bank Group’s pre-tax profit and net profit for the first quarter of 2012 would have shown a higher growth of 13.5% and 13.7% respectively.
Despite the higher restated shareholders’ equity base, the Group continued to lead in terms of having the highest net return on equity of 24.7% amongst the Malaysian banking groups. The Group also maintained its top ranking in asset quality and cost efficiency in the banking industry with notably lower gross impaired loan ratio of 0.8% and cost-to-income ratio of 31.8% for the first quarter of 2012.”
The Public Bank Group’s balance sheet growth indicators remained healthy. In the first quarter of 2012, the Group’s gross loans grew by RM4.2 billion, or 2.4% to reach RM 181.9 billion as at the end of March 2012. Domestic loan book grew at a faster pace of 3.1%. The Group’s customer deposits grew by 3.4% to reach RM207.1 billion as at the end of March 2012, while domestic customer deposits grew at a stronger rate of 3.6%. “On an annualised basis, both domestic loans and domestic customer deposits recorded healthy double-digit growth of 12.3% and 14.5% respectively.” said Tan Sri Teh.
Capital Position Remained Healthy
The Public Bank Group’s capital position remained healthy, with its Tier 1 capital ratio and risk-weighted capital ratio standing at 10.3% and 14.4% respectively as at the end of March 2012. Tan Sri Teh commented, “The Group will continue to be proactive in maintaining a healthy level of capital at all times to support the Group’s business growth strategies whilst maximising its shareholder return.”
Group’s Prospect
Tan Sri Teh remarked that, “Along with the expectation that the Malaysian economy will grow by 4% to 5% in 2012, the Public Bank Group continues to strive in a healthy domestic operating environment due to the stable financial system, favourable employment conditions, sustained consumer and business sentiment as well as the accommodative monetary policy environment promoted by Bank Negara Malaysia.
The Group will continue to focus on its core retail banking and financing business whilst maintaining its prudent credit policies, and further improve on its cost efficiency. The Group remains steadfast in its commitment to upholding strong corporate governance and implementation of sound risk management policies to support longterm growth.
