Friday 29 Mar 2024
By
main news image

KUALA LUMPUR (July 31): Public Bank Bhd gained as much as 26 sen or 1.4% after the group said net profit increased 13% to RM1.2 billion in the second quarter ended June 30, 2015 (2QFY15), from a year earlier.

Public Bank (fundamental: 2.8 ; valuation: 1.8) also declared a single-tier dividend of 24 sen a share for the quarter in review.

During 1HFY15, Public Bank's net profit grew to RM2.37 billion, from RM2.07 billion a year earlier; while revenue rose to RM9.34 billion, from RM8.01 billion.

Today, the stock rose to an intraday high of RM19.14. At 11:13 am, Public Bank pared gains at RM18.98, with 1.31 million shares having changed hands.

At 11:53am, the shares were transacted at RM19, making Public Bank the 10th-largest gainer on the exchange.

Affin Hwang Investment Bank said in a research note today that Public Bank's 1HFY15 net profit outperformed Affin Hwang's expectation.

Affin Hwang maintained its "buy" rating for Public Bank's shares, with an unchanged 12-month target price of RM21.80.

“Amidst a more cautious economic outlook, we still favour Public Bank, as it remains defensive in nature, owing to its sound asset quality, established retail-banking franchise (Number one position) and a well-capitalised balance sheet," Affin Hwang said.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)

      Print
      Text Size
      Share