Singapore banks' profits soar by 27% in Q4

DBS, OCBC, and UOB made a whopping $11.9b in 2017.

The net profit growth of DBS, OCBC, and UOB averaged 27% YoY in Q4, bringing their combined profits to $11.9b in 2017, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) said.

According to a market update, for the whole year, DBS' profit rose 4% to $4.39b, OCBC's profit leapt 19% to $4.15b - surpassing the $4b for the first time, whilst UOB's profit gained 9% to $3.1b.

For the fourth quarter, DBS' profit surged 33% to $1.22b, OCBC's profit gained 31% to $1.03b, whilst UOB grew 16% to $855m.

Net interest income contributed 61% to the banks’ 2017 total income, ranging from 56% for OCBC to 65% for DBS.

Net interest margin (NIM), which represents annualised net interest income as a percentage of total interest-bearing assets, averaged 1.72% for the three banks. This was a similar average to 2016.

In terms of wealth management income, DBS grew 35% to $966m, OCBC surged 45%, whilst UOB rose 36%.

The three banks saw net institutional inflows that totaled $3.3b for the 12 months ending January 2018, which was a significant turnaround from net outflows of $154.6 million for the calendar year 2016. 

The three banks are amongst the region’s biggest stocks by market capitalisation and account for 38% of the STI’s weight.