Public Bank Bhd's pre-tax profit for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016 rose to RM6.55 billion from RM6.49 billion in 2015.

Revenue increased to RM20.10 billion during the period under review from RM19.20 billion previously, it said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.

Founder/Chairman Tan Sri Dr Teh Hong Piow attributed the results to the group's proactive organic growth strategy and prudent banking practices, which remained an edge in the current competitive banking landscape.

"The group demonstrated the ability to generate stable profitability amid increasing and challenging operating environment," he said.

Teh said the bank continued to be at the forefront amongst its domestic banking peers by delivering high net return on equity at 16.5 per cent and maintaining low gross impaired loan ratio of 0.5 per cent, as well as efficient cost-to-income ratio of 32.3 per cent in 2016.

The group recorded a total loan growth of 7.5 per cent, with domestic loan growth at 7.2 per cent compared with the banking industry's domestic loan growth of 5.3 per cent, and an increased market share of 17.7 per cent in the domestic lending market.

Total deposits from customers rose 2.9 per cent to RM310 billion.

The group's total net income grew 4.3 per cent to RM9.96 billion, supported by continued growth in net interest income and fee commission income.

Pre-tax profit for the group's overseas operations increased 8.5 per cent from RM572 million in 2015 to RM621 million in 2016, contributing 9.5 per cent to the group's overall pre-tax profit for 2016.

In view of the bank's favourable performance in 2016, Teh said the board of directors declared a second interim dividend of 32 sen, taking the full-year dividend for 2016 to 58 sen.

He is also positive on the group's sustainability of earnings for this year.

"The group will strategise its key focus on the organic growth in retail banking business and continue to strengthen its position as a premier bank of excellence," Teh added. - BERNAMA