DBS first quarter profit up 52% to $655mn

Despite economic uncertainties, the bank believes that its efforts to strengthen its Asian operation will continue to bear fruit.

DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Southeast Asia's largest bank by assets, Friday reported a 52% increase in first-quarter net profit on continued growth in trading and wealth-management streams while the bank's loan book showed modest but encouraging signs of improving as its interest margin stabilized.

Net profit for the three months ended March 31 was 807 million Singapore dollars (US$655.1 million), from S$532 million (US$431.9 million) a year earlier, DBS said in a statement.

The result was much higher than the average estimate of S$672 million (US$545.6 million) from five analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

"This quarter, we delivered yet another record set of results with every income line showing the impact of execution against our underlying strategies," DBS Chief Executive Piyush Gupta said in a statement.

"Going forward, while the global economy remains fraught with uncertainty, and the interest rate climate continues to provide headwinds, we believe that efforts to strengthen our franchise in Asia will continue to bear fruit."

The low interest rate environment globally has weighed on mortgage interest earnings for Singapore banks, with their bottom lines mostly supported by other streams of income such as fees, trading income, improving asset quality and investment gains.

View the full story in The Wall street Journal.