KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — Public Bank Bhd’s net profit for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2020 (FY20) declined 11.6 per cent to RM4.87 billion compared with RM5.51 billion in the previous year.
Revenue also fell to RM20.30 billion from RM22.45 billion previously.
Public Bank founder, chairman emeritus, director and adviser Tan Sri Dr Teh Hong Piow said 2020 was a year full of unprecedented challenges with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, inflicting significant economic disruptions and uncertainties.
“Coupled with several overnight policy rate reductions during the year, it had placed further pressure on the banking sector. Against this backdrop, the Public Bank Group was still able to show a steady performance and sustain its profitability,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
Teh said the overall net profit was, however, adversely affected by the higher provisions set aside in anticipation of the pandemic effect on top of the one-off net modification loss incurred in respect of the Covid-19-related relief measures.
For the fourth quarter, the bank recorded a lower net profit of RM1.15 billion versus RM1.41 billion a year ago while revenue slipped to RM4.92 billion compared with RM5.67 billion previously.
Going forward, he said the Malaysian economy is expected to rebound gradually in 2021 after falling into a contraction in 2020 due to economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 outbreak.
“The outlook remains uncertain hinging on the development and containment of the pandemic,” he said.
He added that amid the prevailing economic conditions, the Public Bank Group would remain vigilant and agile in balancing growth with risks. — Bernama
