KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 27): RHB Bank Bhd (KL:RHBBANK) will not change its capital structure this year but plans to pay higher dividends for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2026 (FY2026) due to stronger financial reserves and clearer profit outlook.
Group managing director and group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Rashid Mohamad said the bank has lifted its dividend payout ratio guidance from the previous 30%-50% band to a higher range of 50%-60%.
“I'm pleased to share that we have moved our guidance [for dividend payout ratio] now to 50% to 60%," he said in a press conference following the release of the bank's financial results on Friday.
RHB declared its highest annual dividend of 50 sen per share for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2025 (FY2025) — translating into a 65% payout ratio — up from the previous high of 43 sen in FY2024.
"The 65% dividend payout this year is also at the back of our good result for 2025,” he added, noting that the bancassurance partnerships helped support a higher payout for last year.
On FY2026 capital plans, Mohd Rashid said “there’s no capital management plan as yet for now”, noting that the bank’s capital position remains sufficiently strong.
RHB had on Aug 1, 2025 signed 20-year exclusive partnerships with Tokio Marine Life for bancassurance and Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd (KL:TAKAFUL) for bancatakaful, through which RHB will exclusively market and distribute their life, family takaful and general takaful products across its network in Malaysia.
The partnerships secure up to RM1.6 billion in access fees for RHB, providing the bank a predictable source of fee income for the next 20 years.
For FY2025, RHB posted a net profit of RM3.36 billion, up 7.8% year-on-year, partly due to lower provisions for bad debts and other losses.
Net interest income rose 3.9% to RM6 billion, supported by loan growth and lower funding cost, while non-interest income slipped 2.1% to RM2.8 billion owing to lower net gains on foreign exchange, derivatives and brokerage activities.
The bank’s net interest margin with liability management stood at 1.88%.
RHB’s common equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio strengthened to 15.2% post-dividend, a level analysts consider robust.
As at 4.04pm on Friday, shares of RHB were trading unchanged at RM8.30, with a market capitalisation of RM36.2 billion.