KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd
(PBB), which reported a 3.65% lower net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30 (3Q25), said it will remain vigilant in its business approach while continuing to build on its core competencies.
“In a more complex operating environment with renewed challenges, resilience is the key to sustainability and stability.
“The Public Bank Group will continue to remain vigilant in its business approach while building on its core competencies. The Group will remain focused on synergistic growth, sound risk management and good corporate governance to stay relevant in today’s dynamic business environment,” managing director and chief executive officer Tan Sri (Dr) Tay Ah Lek said in a statement.
In 3Q25, PBB posted a net profit of RM1.84bil, or 9.54 sen earnings per share, compared with RM1.91bil, or 9.85 sen, in the same quarter a year ago.
Quarterly revenue rose about 9% to RM7.4bil from RM6.8bil in the corresponding period last year.
In the nine months to Sept 30, PBB posted a flat net profit of RM5.35bil, while revenue rose 9.62% to RM22bil from RM20bil a year earlier.
PBB said its net interest and financing income rose by 2.5% to RM8.45bil, as compared with RM8.24bil in the corresponding period in 2024.
Non-interest and non-financing income recorded strong momentum, rising 19% on-year, driven mainly by the newly acquired general insurance business from LPI Capital Group.
The bank said the increase was further supported by higher investment income, stronger banking fee and commission income, and improved foreign exchange business.
Its cost-to-income ratio remained efficient at 34.9%, well below the industry average of 44.8%. Total credit costs also stayed low at three basis points during the period.
Asset quality remained solid, with the gross impaired loan ratio stable at 0.5%, while loan loss coverage was maintained at a prudent 154.8%.
Tay said that amidst a challenging backdrop, the Public Bank Group continued to record consistent growth in both loans and deposits.
“Underpinned by proactive management of cost of funds and synergistic growth in non-interest income, the group continued to deliver stable performance throughout the first nine months of the year.
“The group’s resilience is further reflected in its healthy net return on equity of 12.6%, underscoring the group’s strong fundamentals and capacity to sustain value creation,” he added.
During the nine months ended September 2025, PBB’s total loan portfolio expanded at an annualised rate of 5.4% to RM441.2bil.
Its domestic loan portfolio grew at a stronger annualised pace of 6.1% to RM416bil, outpacing the Malaysian industry’s annualised loan growth of 4.5%.
The bank said the growth was mainly driven by its core financing segments—domestic residential property financing, hire purchase financing and SME financing—which expanded at annualised rates of 5.7%, 11.4% and 10.7% respectively. These key segments continued to command strong domestic market shares of 20.1%, 32.8% and 18.3% respectively.
On the funding side, PBB’s total customer deposits grew at an annualised 4.0% to RM446.2bil, supported by sustained growth in core deposits. Its current and savings accounts rose 3.9% on an annualised basis, further strengthening the group’s low-cost funding base.
The bank’s non-interest and non-financing income rose 19% year-on-year to RM2.53bil in the first nine months of 2025, driven mainly by the general insurance business of LPI Capital Group, which accounted for 9.3% of the PBB’s total non-interest and non-financing income.
Meanwhile, Public Mutual, a unit trust company wholly-owned by PBB, registered a pre-tax profit of RM624.5mil for the 9M25, contributing about 8.8% of the group’s overall pre-tax profit.
Public Mutual continued to capture a leading domestic retail market share of 34.0%, with a net asset value of RM107.1bil from 185 unit trust funds under its management as at end-September 2025.
Additionally, PBB remained well-capitalised with Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio, Tier 1 capital ratio, and total capital ratio standing at 13.8%, 13.8%, and 16.5% respectively as at end-September 2025.
