KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Bank Bhd’s pre-tax profit for the first quarter (1Q) ended March 31, 2017 was reduced at RM658.27 million from RM755.27 million recorded in the same quarter in 2016.
Revenue decreased to RM2.61 billion from RM2.71 billion previously, it said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.
The lower pre-tax profit in the first quarter was mainly due to higher allowances for loans and financing and higher operating expenses, partially offset by higher net funding income, RHB Bank said in separate statement yesterday.
Gross loans and financing expanded by an annualised rate of 7.2 per cent, driven mainly by the small and medium enterprises (SME) portfolio growth.
Market share for SME continued to improve to 8.9 per cent, as at March 2017, from 8.8 per cent in December 2016, it said.
RHB Banking Group managing director Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli was quoted as saying in the statement that the group’s disciplined cost management efforts delivered an improved cost to income ratio at 48.9 per cent, from 50 per cent registered in the 2016 financial year.
“The group moved on from a challenging fourth quarter in 2016 and delivered a much improved profitability in the current period. We expect a better performance this year compared with 2016, as we remain vigilant to any headwinds in the operating environment,” he said.
Khairussaleh added the bank’s SME and Islamic banking portfolios maintained their strong performance in the first quarter of 2017, while its current and savings accounts composition continued to strengthen.
The RHB Banking Group is the fourth largest fully integrated financial services group in Malaysia.
The group’s core businesses are streamlined into seven main business pillars, namely retail banking, business and transaction banking, wholesale banking, Singapore business operations, syariah business, international business and insurance. — Bernama