FILE PHOTO: A DBS bank signage is pictured in Singapore September 5, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – DBS Group Holdings Ltd (DBSM.SI), Southeast Asia’s biggest lender, beat market estimates by reporting a 17% increase in second-quarter profit, supported by a rise in net interest income.
The Singaporean bank’s net profit came in at S$1.6 billion ($1.2 billion) in the three months ending June, versus S$1.37 billion a year earlier and an average estimate of S$1.47 billion from three analysts, according to data from Refinitiv.
Analysts say the outlook for banks is getting challenging, with Singapore’s economy growing at its slowest annual pace in a decade in the second quarter, hit by a drop in manufacturing output and exports.
DBS, the first Singaporean bank to kick off the sector’s results, maintained its mid-single-digit percent loan growth forecast for the full year.
The bank’s net interest income rose by 9% in the latest quarter as loans grew 5% in constant-currency terms and net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability, improved six basis points to 1.91%.
Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Chris Cushing and Stephen Coates
