DBS hiked its full-year profit, thanks to spending cuts and financial benefits from digitizing its business. Client assets at Singapore bank's wealth unit tapered at year-end.
Singapore's largest lender said full-year net profit rose 3 percent to a record S$4.37 billion on the year, thanks to productivity gains from spending cuts and the wider adoption of digitization.
Income edged 4 percent higher to S$11.9 billion. This barely outpaced the bank's spending, which rose just 3 percent. As a result, DBS' cost-income ratio was steady at 43 percent, even after soaking up ANZ’s private and retail arm in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Indonesia, a less profitable business than its own.
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At its flagship consumer banking and wealth management unit, client assets climbed 24 percent on the year to S$206 billion. However, DBS recorded a 2 percent slide in assets in the fourth quarter, while fee income dropped by 7 percent. The bank said the fall was due to seasonally slower wealth management and lending.
Chief Executive Piyush Gupta was upbeat for the year, despite the quarterly lull. «We enter the coming year with sustained momentum across our businesses and, more fundamentally, in our digital transformation,» hesaid in a press release.
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