KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Bank Bhd's net profit rose 16.4 per cent year-on-year to RM2.22 billion for the nine months ended Sept 30 2023.
This was mainly due to higher non-fund based income and lower expected credit loss or ECL, RHB said in a statement today.
For the third quarter, RHB posted a 6.5 per cent lower net profit of RM649.9 million than the RM695.4 million achieved in the corresponding quarter last year, mainly due to lower net fund based income.
"Despite the (economic) headwinds, the group continued to uphold its strong financial performance in the third quarter and consequently for the nine months ended September 2023 as it navigated the challenging operating environment," RHB Banking Group managing director and chief executive officer Mohd Rashid Mohamad said.
"The group's fundamentalsremained strong as reflected in the healthy capital and liquidity position. We will remain vigilant as risks from external factors including recent developments in geopolitical tensions as well as challenges in certain markets where we operate, may dampen growth," he added.
The group's total income stood at RM5.75 billion for the nine months, from higher non-fund based income, while net fund based income was RM4.11 billion on the back of higher funding costs mainly due to fixed deposit growth of 14.9 per cent.
Its operating expenses increased 3.3 per cent to RM2.71 billion from higher personnel costs, attributed mainly to collective agreement adjustments, and higher establishment and marketing costs.
Correspondingly, the cost-to-income ratio increased to 47.1 per cent compared with 44.3 per cent a year ago.
RHB group ECL reduced 81.4 per cent to RM71.4 million primarily due to writeback of management overlay. Excluding writebacks, normalised credit cost stood at 0.24 per cent compared with 0.35 per cent for the same period last year.
Its total assets increased 3.9 per cent from December 2022 to RM322.7 billion as at Sept 30 2023, while net assets per share was RM6.98, with shareholders' equity at RM29.9 billion as of September.
Mohd Rashid said RHB was on track to achieving its sustainable financial services target under its five-year "Sustainability Strategy and Roadmap".
"On a cumulative basis, we have attained over RM19 billion, equivalent to 99 per cent of our RM20 billion target. We will be revising our sustainable financial services commitment upwards to ensure we continue to expand and maximise our impact in supporting our customers in their sustainability journey," he added.