RHB Bank's FY23 net profit rises to RM2.81bil, declares 25c div/share

KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Bank Bhd group managing director and CEO Mohd Rashid Mohamad said the banking industry is expected to remain resilient with robust capital and liquidity positions, as well as conducive monetary policy.

"Demand for credit is expected to improve this year, led by stronger credit demand from the business segment," he said.

"While we delivered a resilient financial performance for FY23, we will continue to refine our focus and approach, and double down on innovation and cost management to improve business performance."

In the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (4QFY23), RHB registered a lower net profit on lower net fund based income and higher expected credit losses (ECL)

RHB said it recorded a net profit of RM585.91mil during the quarter under review, down from RM770.59mil in the previous corresponding quarter while revenue grew to RM4.4bil from RM3.92bil in the same year-ago quarter.

The bank's earnings per share contracted to 13.67 sen in 4QFY23 from 18.20 sen in 4QFY22.

In line with the performance, RHB declared a second interim dividend of 25 sen per share, comprising a cash payout of 15 sen per share and an electable portion under the dividend reinvestment plan of 10 sen per share.

The total dividend for the year amounted to 40 sen per share or 61.1% payout ratio, for a dividend yield of 7.3%.

For the entire financial year, RHB's net profit came to RM2.81bil as compared to RM2.68bil in FY22 while revenue rose to RM16.58bil from RM13.13bil in the previous year.

The bank reported a lower net fund based income of RM5.45bil during the year on the back of higher funding costs, which was mainly due to fixed deposit growth of 14.3% year-on-year.

It said net interest margin (NIM) for the year was 1.82%.

Non-fund based income, meanwhile, increased 30.3% y-o-y to RM2.32bil on higher net gain on forex and derivatives, net trading and investment income and fee income.

On balance sheet, the group's gross loans and financing grew 4.8% y-o-y to RM222.4bil, mainly supported by Singapore and group community banking growth.

The group's customer deposits increased 7.9% y-o-y to RM245.1bil, mainly due to growth in retail and SME and Singapore deposits of 12.6% and 36.9% respectively.

Current account savings account (Casa) stood at 27.9%.