Singapore banks slip ahead of quarterly earnings reports
Shares of OCBC, DBS and UOB fell on Nov. 2 as investors awaited earnings, with OCBC dropping the most after its insurance arm reported a sharp profit decline.
Shares of Singapore’s three major banks were lower on the morning of Nov. 2, with OCBC posting the biggest slide ahead of its earnings release. At 11:43 a.m., OCBC was down 3.7% at $28.22, while DBS fell 2.5% to $71.31 and UOB slipped 2.2% to $40.48.
OCBC’s sharper decline followed a report from its insurance subsidiary Great Eastern that third-quarter net profit dropped 72% year-on-year to $102.9 million, impacted by weaker investment valuations and a one-off loss from the partial divestment of its Indonesian subsidiary. By noon, OCBC had recovered slightly to trade at $28.26.
DBS and UOB trimmed some of their losses, trading at $71.41 and $40.53 respectively. The banking sector weakness pulled the Straits Times Index down 1.4% to 5,303.84 points by midday.
UOB is scheduled to release its third-quarter results on Nov. 4, followed by DBS on Nov. 5 and OCBC on Nov. 6. Analysts noted that wealth-management fees could ease in the third quarter after a strong performance in the prior three months, although net interest margin pressure remains. Investors are also expected to examine banks’ exposure to AI-related financing and the effect of rising bond yields on their investment portfolios and capital positions.