RHB Cap profit climbs to $132.27mn

Higher profit was attributed to higher net interest income, other operating income, income from Islamic banking business and impairment writeback on other assets.

RHB Capital Bhd posted higher second quarter net profit of RM394.62mil ($132.27 million) against last year’s RM339.03mil, owing to higher net interest income, while revenue for the quarter ended June 30 was up 23% to RM1.77bil against RM1.44bil.

On its outlook, the banking group said the Malaysian economy was expected to grow between 5% and 6% for this year amid a challenging external environment.

“The outlook for the Malaysian banking sector remains positive, supported by the underlying strengths of the domestic economy and the roll-out of the large-scale infrastructure projects under the Economic Transformation Programme,” it said in its accompanying notes to its quarterly results.

For the six months ended June 30, the company posted a net profit of RM776.74mil against RM688.76mil made a year ago. The company said that its higher profit was mainly due to higher net interest income by RM154.8mil, higher other operating income by RM70.4mil, higher income from Islamic banking business by RM14mil and impairment writeback on other assets of RM10mil as compared to allowance for impairment of RM24.8mil recorded in the previous corresponding period.

It was, however, partly offset by higher other operating expenses by RM129.5mil and higher allowance for impairment on loans, financing and other losses by RM26.9mil.

Revenue for the first six months grew 20.4% to RM3.42bil against last year’s RM2.84bil.

View the full story in The Malaysian Star