UOB shares tumble over 5% after Q3 profit misses forecasts

United Overseas Bank (UOB) saw its share price slide more than 5% in mid-day trading on Wednesday after reporting third-quarter earnings that did not meet market expectations. The stock opened down 5.3% at S$38.30 and was trading around S$38.46, roughly S$2 lower, with about 2.5 million shares changing hands, double the volume of its local peers DBS and OCBC.

UOB later touched S$37.84, a 6.5% decline from the previous close. The drop came despite a 182.2% year-on-year rise in net profit to S$1.25 billion for the quarter ended 30 September, up from S$443 million a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a net profit of S$1.38 billion.

The profit surge followed a 72% plunge in net profit in the same quarter of 2025, when the bank set aside S$1.36 billion for credit and other losses amid macroeconomic uncertainties. Record fee income from wealth management, card services and loan-related businesses helped lift earnings, while net interest income grew modestly by 1% to S$2.28 billion. However, the net interest margin narrowed to 1.68% from 1.82% a year earlier.

Earnings per share rose to S$2.98 on an annualised basis, compared with S$1.01 a year ago. Prior to the announcement, UOB shares had closed 0.5% lower at S$40.46 on Tuesday. The other two major Singapore banks, DBS and OCBC, were scheduled to release their Q3 results later in the week and were also trading modestly lower in a broadly weaker market.