Public Bank posts $1.52 B pre-tax profit for 2011

Public Bank reported a 12.8 per cent increase in pre-tax profit for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2011 with US$ 1.52 billion.

It registered a US$1.35 billion pre-tax in the previous year.

Revenue for the twelve-month period rose to US$4.2 billion from US$3.65 billion.

The bank's gross loans as at the end of 2011 stood at US$58.8 billion, representing a growth of 13.5 per cent as compared to a year ago.

"Domestic loan book grew at a faster pace of 14.1 per cent. Customer deposits grew by 13.3 per cent to reach RM200.4 billion as at the end of 2011, while domestic customer deposits grew at a stronger rate of 14.7 per cent.

"Public Bank Group has declared a second interim single-tier dividend of 28 sen. Together with the first interim single-tier dividend of 20 sen which was paid in August 2011, the total dividend for 2011 is 48 sen," Public Bank Chairman Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow said in a statement Monday.

For the fourth financial quarter ended Dec 31, 2011, the banking group's pre-tax profit rose to US$385 million from US$374 million in the corresponding quarter in 2010.

Revenue for the three-month period also rose to US$1.1 billion from US$984 million.

For the whole year 2011, Teh said the lending activities of Public Bank remained focused on the retail sector which accounted for 85 per cent of the total loan portfolio of the group, mainly comprising loans to mid-market commercial enterprises as well as loans for the financing of residential properties and purchase of passenger vehicles.

Teh said the banking group's unit trust management business through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual, continued to show commendable performance with a pre-tax profit growth of 17.5 per cent in 2011, and maintained its pole position in private unit trust business with US$14.8 billion of net assets under management.

Moving forward, he said, the bank's strategies remained unchanged as it would continue to focus on its core retail banking and financing business whilst maintaining its prudent credit policies, and further improve on its cost efficiency.