Guess what are the big boosters in Singapore banks' laudable 2Q report

Loan growth exceeded expectations.

According to CIMB, 2Q was a decent quarter, with non-core gains making DBS and UOB look better than it was at the headline level. 

Core banking revenues were healthy. Net interest income grew by 4-5% for all banks, driven mostly by trade finance and US$ loans.

Here's more from CIMB:

Loan growth was above expectations: DBS (+5.0% qoq), OCBC (+7.0%) and UOB (+2.4%). Full-year loan growth guidance was also raised: DBS (14%), OCBC (9-11%), UOB (11-15%).

Non-interest income fell 6-11% across the board as fees normalised from the anomaly of chunky deals in 1Q. UOB was the only bank which recorded qoq net profit growth, helped by a large one-off associates’ investment gain.