In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, RHB said the group’s revenue increased 38% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM7.97 billion from RM5.76 billion previously.
For the second quarter of 2023 (Q2 FY2023), RHB’s net profit increased 28% y-o-y to RM808.7 million from RM630.07 million a year ago.
Meanwhile, revenue increased 37% y-o-y to RM4.05 billion from RM2.95 billion registered in the same quarter last year.
RHB said its non-fund-based income increased 46.3% y-o-y to RM1.07 billion in H1 FY2023, primarily from higher net gain on forex and derivatives, and net trading and investment income.
“ECL reduced 144.4% primarily due to the writeback of management overlay. Excluding writebacks, normalised credit cost stood at 0.21% compared with 0.27% for the same period last year,” the bank said.
However, RHB noted that its net fund-based income was lower by 10.4% to RM2.72 billion on the back of higher funding costs, mainly due to fixed deposits growth of 16.4% y-o-y with net interest margin (NIM) for the quarter at 1.82%.
The bank also shared that its operating expenses increased 6.5% y-o-y for H1 2023 to RM1.8 billion, partly due to higher personnel costs from collective agreement adjustments.
This caused the cost-to-income ratio to increase to 47.5% compared with 44.9% a year ago.
Moving forward, RHB said Malaysia is expected to sustain its economic growth momentum throughout the remainder of the year, anchored by resilient domestic demand.
“This is supported by robust household spending on the back of healthy labour market conditions, the revival of tourism-related activities, and the continued progress of multi-year infrastructure projects.
“However, the growth outlook is still subject to downside risks, mainly from the escalation of geopolitical tensions, inflationary pressures, and slower economic expansion in major economies,” it added.
RHB group managing director and group CEO Rashid Mohamad said the group continued to deliver sustained financial performance for H1 2023 despite the challenging economic and business environment.
“Our fundamentals remain strong, and we will continue to remain focused on the group’s Together We Progress 2024 (TWP24) corporate strategy, which is now in its second year of execution.
“The group will continue to exercise prudent financial management and cost discipline, as well as accelerate its efforts in managing asset quality to maintain resilience and improve operational excellence.
“In appreciation of the support and loyalty that our shareholders have given us, we are pleased to declare an interim dividend of 15 sen per share, representing a payout ratio of 40.9%,” he added.
As at 12.29pm, RHB’s share price was up by three sen or 0.53% at RM5.68, giving it a market capitalisation of RM24.35 billion.