KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 — RHB Bank Bhd recorded a net profit of RM2.62 billion in its financial year ended December 31, 2021 (FY2021), up about 29 per cent from RM2.03 billion in 2020 mainly due to higher net fund-based income, lower allowances for credit losses and lower net modification loss.
However, the earnings were partly offset by lower non-fund based income and higher operating expenses, the bank said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.
For FY2021, RHB Bank recorded revenue of RM11.75 billion compared with RM12.50 billion in the preceding year, while earnings per share increased to 64.65 sen from 50.69 sen previously.
RHB Bank’s net fund based income improved to RM5.87 billion driven by proactive management of funding cost, which dropped 24.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) supported by current account savings account (CASA) growth of 4.5 per cent.
Net interest margin for the year was 2.14 per cent compared with 2.06 per cent recorded last year.
Meanwhile, non-fund based income declined to RM2.16 billion, primarily from lower brokerage income and net trading and investment income, offset by higher insurance underwriting surplus and fee income growth from the capital market, asset management and commercial banking.
RHB Banking Group officer-in-charge and principal officer Mohd Rashid Mohamad said the group remained prudent in managing its asset quality while continuing to enhance its governance and risk management practices.
He added that the group’s capital and liquidity positions for FY2021 remained strong and it had also stepped up efforts in promoting economic recovery, including taking a holistic approach in assisting customers impacted by the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic through various forms of financial assistance.
“As of Jan 31, 2022, our repayment assistance programme has already benefitted approximately 85,000 RHB customers, of which more than 6,300 are small and medium enterprise (SME) customers, with total outstanding repayment assistance of RM21.3 billion, equivalent to 12 per cent of our group’s domestic loans and financing,” he said in a statement today.
The group said its expected credit losses (ECL) fell to RM737.2 million arising from lower ECL on loans and higher bad debts recovered during the year and consequently, the credit charge ratio improved to 0.29 per cent against 0.58 per cent in the previous year
For FY2021, the group’s gross loans and financing grew 6.7 per cent y-o-y to RM198.5 billion, mainly supported by growth in mortgage, auto finance, small and medium enterprise, commercial and Singapore businesses while domestic loans and financing grew 4.8 per cent y-o-y.
Customer deposits also increased 7.5 per cent y-o-y to RM218.7 billion, predominantly attributed to fixed and money market time deposits growth of nine per cent and CASA of 4.5 per cent.
RHB Bank has proposed a final dividend of 25 sen per share, comprising 15 sen cash and an electable portion of 10 sen subject to the dividend reinvestment plan.
For FY2021, the total dividend amounted to 40 sen per share or 62.9 per cent payout.
RHB Bank’s total assets increased 6.8 per cent from December 2020 to RM289.5 billion as of December 31, 2021. Net assets per share were RM6.76, with shareholders’ equity at RM28.0 billion as of end-December 2021. — Bernama