OCBC posts record quarterly profit, upgrades margin guidance

Best quarter: People pass an OCBC branch. Singapore banks are benefiting from the influx of wealthy customers amid the global economic uncertainty. — Reuters

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s second-biggest lender Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) has reported its best-ever quarterly profit and upgraded its net interest margin guidance for the full-year on the back of strong first-quarter growth.

OCBC, which is also South-East Asia’s second-biggest bank by assets, said January-March net profit rose 39% to S$1.88bil (RM6.3bil), beating the mean estimate of S$1.74bil (RM5.8bil) from five analysts polled by Refinitiv.