Public Bank ends FY24 with higher net profit of RM7.15bil, declares 11c div/share

KUALA LUMPUR: Off the back of improved earnings in 2024, Public Bank Bhd anticipates the domestic banking sector to remain resilient, underpinned by ample liquidity and healthy capital buffers.

This comes as the group announced sustained growth in both loans and deposits businesses in 2024, as well as stronger growth in non-interest income.

Moving forward, the latter income is expected to be further enhanced by the group's purchase of a 44.15% stake in LPI Capital Bhd moving forward.

"The group expects greater business synergies leveraging on the extended customer reach. Through strategic business collaborations, the group will drive more cross-selling activities to boost business growth of both entities," said managing director Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek in a statement.

He noted also the group’s prudent cost management, as evidenced by a cost-to-income ratio of 34.5% in 2024.

Meanwhile, the group achieved a net return on equity of 13.2%.

For the 2024 financial year (FY24), Public Bank registered a net profit of RM7.15bil, up from RM6.65bil in FY23, while revenue dipped to RM27.21bil from RM25.42bil in the previous year.

Earnings per share for the year rose to 36.84 sen compared to 34.26 sen in 2023.

The group said pre-tax profit increased 4.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM8.93bil in FY24. Stripping out the one-off impairment of goodwill of RM473.8mil incurred for the group's Hong Kong operations, the group's pre-tax profit would have charted higher growth of 10.1% y-o-y.

In the fourth quarter of 2024 (4QFY24) alone, the group registered a net profit of RM1.8bil, up from RM1.62bil in 4QFY23, while revenue rose to RM7.06bil from RM6.55bil in the prior comparative quarter.

The board of directors declared a second interim dividend of 11 sen per share, with entitlement date on March 13, 2025, and scheduled for payment on March 24, 2025.

On balance sheet, Public Bank said loan portfolios expanded 6.7% to RM397.7bil.

"During the year, the Public Bank Group saw strong growth in newly approved domestic loans for hire purchase financing and SME financing,which grew by 16.3% and 41% respectively. These will continue to support a stable loan growth in 2025," it said.

Total customer deposits stood at RM433.3bil as at the end-December 2024, representing 4.9% growth from the year before.

The group's non-interest income rose 15.2% y-o-y to RM2.85bil in 2024, primarilydriven by stronger performance in unit trust, investments and stockbroking operations.

Its unit trust arm, Public Mutual, registered a pre-tax profit of RM860mil in 2024, representing 7.8% growth from 2023 and contributing 9.6% to the group's overallpre-tax profit.