Singapore based OCBC bank reported a profit for the second quarter of 2016 down from a year ago. What influence has the acquisition of Barclays Wealth Asian units had?
Singapore's OCBC reported a profit after tax of S$885 million for the second quarter of 2016, this is down 15 per cent from a year ago.
Against a strong quarter a year ago which included a substantial gain from the sale of an equity investment under insurance subsidiary Great Eastern Holdings (GEH), net profit after tax, at Singapore's second largest bank, was 15 percent lower driven by a decline in investment income and unrealised mark-to-market losses in the insurance portfolio.
Bank of Singapore With Strong Growth
OCBC’s private banking business continued to achieve strong growth. Its assets under management as at 30 June 2016 grew 12 percent to S$82 billion from S$73 billion a year ago. OCBC Bank’s private banking services are provided by its wholly-owned subsidiary Bank of Singapore,
The Group’s first half 2016 wealth management income, comprising income from insurance, private banking, asset management, stockbroking and other wealth management products, of S$1 billion was 21 percent lower than S$1.28 billion a year ago, mainly due to lower income contributions from GEH.
Resilient Show
Excluding GEH, wealth management income increased 5 percent year-on-year. As a share of the Group’s total income, wealth management contributions were 24 percent in the first six months of 2016 and 29 percent a year ago.
«Our second quarter performance was resilient amid uncertain global economic conditions,» said CEO Samuel Tsien and added: «We are well-positioned to weather the uncertainties ahead and capture new opportunities as they arise.»
