SINGAPORE: DBS Group Holdings, Southeast Asia's biggest lender, beat market estimates by reporting a 17 per cent increase in second-quarter profit, supported by a rise in net interest income.
The Singaporean bank's net profit came in at S$1.6 billion in the three months ending June, versus S$1.37 billion a year earlier and an average estimate of S$1.47 billion from three analysts, according to data from Refinitiv.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAnalysts say the outlook for banks is getting challenging, with Singapore's economy growing at its slowest annual pace in a decade in the second quarter, hit by a drop in manufacturing output and exports.
DBS, the first Singaporean bank to kick off the sector's results, maintained its mid-single-digit percent loan growth forecast for the full year.
The bank's net interest income rose by 9 per cent in the latest quarter as loans grew 5 per cent in constant-currency terms and net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability, improved six basis points to 1.91 per cent.
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