A logo of DBS Bank is seen in Taipei, Taiwan, on January 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
SINGAPORE, April 29 (Reuters) – Singaporean lenders DBS Group (DBSM.SI) and OCBC (OCBC.SI) both reported a 10% fall in their quarterly profits after record performances a year ago, as their wealth management businesses were hit by weaker markets.
“Geopolitical developments over the past few weeks have created macroeconomic headwinds and financial market volatility,” DBS chief Piyush Gupta said in a statement on Friday.
“While some activities like wealth management will be impacted, our overall business pipeline remains healthy,” he said, adding that DBS would benefit significantly from rate hikes in the coming quarters.
Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Net income for DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, fell to S$1.8 billion (US$1.30 billion) in January-March, down from a record S$2 billion a year earlier, but was noisy Definitely above a median estimate of S$1.63 billion from six analysts data.
Banks in Singapore are facing a tough comparison after reporting record profits a year earlier as they benefited from a strong recovery in pandemic-hit markets.
Second-place OCBC posted a profit of S$1.36 billion in the first quarter, up from S$1.5 billion a year earlier, but that was also above a six-month average estimate of S$1.2 billion, according to Refinitiv data analysts.
OCBC counts Singapore, Greater China and Malaysia among its key markets, while DBS derives most of its profit from Singapore and Hong Kong.
($1 = 1.3868 Singapore dollars)
Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Edited by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Sam Holmes
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Comments are closed.