KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 29): RHB Bank Bhd (KL:RHBBANK), the country’s fourth-largest lender by assets, announced that its third-quarter net profit grew 28% from a year earlier, as the banking group booked sharp currency gains of RM659.86 million.

Net profit for the three months ended Sept 30, 2024 (3QFY2024) was RM833.19 million, the bank said in an exchange filing. Year-on-year, net interest income rose 8.8% to RM996.78 million, while other operating income more than doubled to RM1.045 billion, thanks to hefty net forex gains.

Excluding the net forex gains, the banking group's other operating income would have been RM394.14 million. It was RM435.88 million a year ago including a net forex gain of RM85.22 million in the previous corresponding quarter.

No dividend was declared for the quarter.

Quarterly revenue increased by 7% to RM4.51 billion, from RM4.22 billion in the corresponding quarter. Earnings per share grew to 19.11 sen from 15.16 sen a year ago.

The group's allowance for credit loss on financial assets dropped to RM101.62 million in 3QFY2024, down 35% from RM156.88 million, the group's filing showed.

Meanwhile, for the first nine months of the year, RHB reported a 3% rise in net profit to RM2.285 billion while also registering a higher revenue of RM13.33 billion compared with RM12.18 billion in the corresponding period.

The year-on-year improvement was mainly due to higher non-fund based income, higher net funding income, lower tax expense and lower share of loss in associates, offset by higher allowances for credit losses and higher operating expenses.

According to the bourse filing, return on equity also improved to 9.8%, up from 9.6% in the first half of FY2024, reflecting the group's stronger financial performance.

Total income increased 11.3% year-on-year to RM6.4 billion, driven by growth in both net fund based and non-fund based income.

As well as that, cost-to-income ratio improved to 46.0%, down from 47.1% a year ago while gross loans rose 2.3% year-to-date to RM227.5 billion, driven by growth in the group's community banking and commercial segments.

Looking forward, RHB expects continued stability in Malaysia, with gross domestic product growth projected at 5.0% in 2025 and the overnight policy rate anticipated to remain at 3.0%.

“The group will stay agile in navigating the evolving landscape, leveraging digital innovation and sustainable finance to drive sustained, quality growth,” it said in a statement.

“Malaysia’s economic landscape is expected to remain encouraging, with robust growth momentum extending into the fourth quarter of 2024,” the group added in the filing.

At Friday's midday break, RHB's shares were up three sen or 0.4% at RM6.70, valuing the company at RM29.21 billion. Year-to-date, the stock gained 22.94%.