Singapore bank DBS Q4 profit up 37%, expects gains from rising interest rates By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A logo of DBS is pictured outside an office in Singapore January 5, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - DBS Group (OTC:DBSDY) reported a 37% rise in quarterly profit, supported by an improvement in asset quality at Southeast Asia's largest bank and flagged strong business momentum as pandemic-hit economies bounce back.

Singapore banks are expected to be big beneficiaries of rising interest rates while a rebound in economic growth and stable credit quality is also boosting the industry outlook.

"We look forward to the coming year with a prudently managed balance sheet that is poised to benefit from rising interest rates," DBS Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta said in a statement on Monday.

DBS, the first Singapore bank to report this season, said net profit for October-December rose to S$1.389 billion ($1.03 billion) and follows a particularly weak pandemic-hit year when profit tumbled to a three-year low in the fourth quarter.

The result compares with an average estimate of S$1.47 billion from four analysts polled by Refinitiv.

DBS, which earns most of its profit from Singapore and Hong Kong, said allowances for loan losses decreased to S$33 million in the latest quarter from S$577 million a year earlier.

($1 = 1.3464 Singapore dollars)

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