RHB Bank records net profit of RM600.27mil in 1Q

KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Bank Bhd's net profit in the first quarter ended March 31, 2022, fell 7.69% to RM600.27mil compared with RM650.29mil in the year-ago quarter.

The bank reported revenue of RM2.86bil, a 1.6% decline over the comparative quarter.

In a statement, the bank acknowledged the challenging business environment but noted its strong capital ratio and liquidity levels.

"Going forward, we will remain prudent in managing the business and will focus on driving responsible growth, as well as managing our asset quality.

"We will also continue to provide the appropriate assistance to our customers who remain impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic," said RHB Banking Group managing director and CEO Mohd Rashid Mohamad.

In 1QFY22, RHB's net fund-based income improved to RM1.47bil, while gross fund-based income was up 2.7% on the back of 7% loans growth.

Net interest margin for the quarter was 2.11% compared with 2.17% in the same quarter in 2021.

Meanwhile, non-fund-based income declined to RM432.7mil, primarily from lower fee income and net trading and investment income, offset by higher insurance underwriting surplus.

Operating expenses declined to RM859.1mil.

With positive JAWS, cost-to-income ratio improved to 45.1% compared with 46% a year ago.

Expected credit losses (ECL) reduced to RM153.8mil from lower ECL on loans.

Correspondingly, the annualised credit charge ratio improved to 0.29% compared with 0.39% for the same quarter last year.

Aa at end-March 2022, total group assets increased 2.8% to RM297.6bil from December 2021 while shareholders' equity stood at RM28.1bil.

The group’s Common Equity Tier-1 (CET-1) and total capital ratio stood at 16.8% and 19.4% respectively.

The group’s gross loans and financing grew 1.4% year-to-date to RM201.3bil, mainly supported by growth in mortgage, SME and Singapore.

Domestic loans and financing grew 1% year-to-date.

Gross impaired loans was RM3bil with a gross impaired loans ratio of 1.5% compared with 1.49% as at December 2021.

The loan loss coverage ratio excluding regulatory reserves strengthened to 125.7% as at end-March 2022 from 122.4% in December 2021.

Customer deposits increased 3.6% year-to-date to RM226.5bil, predominantly attributed to fixed and money market time deposits growth of 5.1%.

Current account savings account (Casa) composition stood at 29% as at March 31, 2022.

Liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) remained healthy at 144.8%.