KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd’s net profit dropped 3.8 per cent to RM1.77 billion in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2026 (Q3 FY26), from RM1.84 billion a year earlier, mainly due to higher loan impairment allowances.
Public Bank said the lower profit was mainly attributed to a RM116.4 million increase in loan and financing impairment allowances following the normalisation of credit charges.
Investment income also declined by RM90.8 million, while other operating expenses rose 3.7 per cent, or RM47 million.
“These were partially mitigated by RM75.8 million (9.5 per cent) increase in net fee and other income, mainly driven by higher unit trust related fee income and bancassurance income, and RM73.5 million (2.6 per cent) increase in net interest and Islamic banking income,” it said.
Public Bank also suffered from higher other comprehensive losses of RM385.5 million to RM451 million, mainly attributable to higher losses on revaluation of financial investments arising from higher market yields on bonds, partially mitigated by gains from the translation of foreign operations.
Despite the challenging environment, the banking group’s revenue rose 4.4 per cent year on year to RM7.74 billion from RM7.42 billion, according to its bourse filing.
Its gross impaired loans ratio remained stable at 0.55 per cent as at Sept 30, 2026, below the industry average of 1.42 per cent.
Malaysia’s third-largest bank by assets did not declare a dividend for the quarter, bringing its total dividend paid for the financial year so far to 22.5 sen per share.
For the nine months ended Sept 30, 2026, Public Bank’s net profit was largely unchanged at RM5.35 billion from a year earlier, while revenue increased to RM22.67 billion from RM22.08 billion.
Public Bank said Malaysia’s banking sector remains resilient despite a more challenging operating environment, supported by ample liquidity and strong capital buffers.
“The Public Bank group will continue to uphold its commitment to further strengthen its role as a financial intermediary in support of national development.
“The group will continue to prioritise prudence in the management of credit risk, uphold strong corporate governance and ensure effective risk management to safeguard stakeholder value,” it said.
On a segmental basis, pre-tax profit decreased across all segments, except for fund management and head office, funding centre and others.
Corporate lending’s pre-tax profit fell 29.5 per cent to RM163.2 million, mainly due to lower net writeback of loan/financing impairment allowance.
Hire purchase’s pre-tax profit fell 23 per cent to RM114.4 million mainly due to higher loans/financing impairment allowance, lower net interest/financing income and higher other operating expenses.
Treasury and capital market operations also saw a 45 per cent drop in pre-tax profit during the quarter to RM47.2 million, mainly due to lower investment income arising from rising market yields on bonds.
Investment banking saw 39.2 per cent lower pre-tax profit to RM11.7 million, mainly due to lower investment income and corporate advisory fee income.
On the other hand, fund management’s profit increased by 11.6 per cent to RM246.9 million, mainly due to higher management fee from higher average net asset value of funds and higher fee on sale of trust units.
Head office, funding centre and other segments recorded 27.1 per cent higher profit during the quarter to RM387.5 million, mainly due to higher net interest/financing income from funding and investment activities, partially offset by lower investment income and higher other operating expenses.