SINGAPORE: Singapore’s three major banks saw their share prices drop last week. This followed DBS and UOB reporting lower-than-expected earnings and net interest margins for the third quarter ending Sept 30 (3Q26).
DBS closed on Nov 6 at S$69.72, down 3.78% from Nov 2 when it opened at S$72.46, as net profit for the quarter missed estimates and fell 5% to S$2.81bil due to lower market trading income amid unfavourable equity market conditions.
The group’s markets trading income sank 65% year on year to S$152mil for the quarter because of weaker Asian asset performance, dislocated equity market volatility, rising interest rates towards the end of the third quarter, and a drop in volume.
The bank announced on Nov 5 that its chairman Peter Seah will retire at the end of 2026 after 16 years at the helm, with board member Anthony Lim taking over from Jan 1, 2027. Seah will be appointed senior adviser for a year.
UOB shares fell 10.27% over the week, closing at S$36.83 from the week’s high of S$41.10 on Nov 2.
The bank’s 3Q26 net profit jumped 182% to S$1.25bil from a year earlier, on the back of strong growth in wealth, cards and loan-related activities.
The main contributors were a sharp decline in provisions for credit and other losses to S$258mil from S$1.36bil, a 1% increase in net interest income to S$2.28bil and 19% growth in net fee income to S$733mil.
Still, net profit was 15% lower than the previous quarter’s S$1.48bil and it missed the S$1.38bil consensus among analysts polled by Bloomberg.
OCBC saw a 4.28% drop during the week on its shares, closing on Nov 6 at S$27.73 from a high of S$28.97 on Nov 2.
This was despite net earnings going up 3% compared to a year ago to hit S$2.04bil, making it the bank’s second consecutive quarter in which the bank’s earnings exceeded S$2bil.
Its insurance arm Great Eastern, however, saw a 72% year-on-year drop for its 3Q26 net profit at S$102.9mil, due to weaker investment valuations and a one-off loss from the partial divestment of its Indonesian subsidiary.
OCBC’s net profit for the first nine months of 2026 reached a record S$6.24bil, up 10% from the same period a year earlier.
Its group chief executive Tan Teck Long said on Nov 6 that the bank’s performance was underpinned by strong contributions from its wealth management and wholesale banking businesses as the group continued to execute its growth strategy.
The banks contributed to the Straits Times Index (STI) ending the week 2.2% or 117.08 points lower to close at 5,179.17 on Nov 6.
All STI counters fell, with the exception of SATS. — The Straits Times/ANN
