SINGAPORE: Singapore’s biggest lender DBS Group said on Thursday (Nov 6) it expects 2026 net profit to dip slightly from this year's after reporting a 2 per cent drop in third-quarter earnings, which still beat market forecasts.
"As we enter the coming year, we will continue to navigate the pressures of declining interest rates with nimble balance sheet management and our ability to capture structural opportunities across wealth management and institutional banking," chief executive officer Tan Su Shan said in a statement.
She added that total income reached a record high as the bank sustained strong momentum in wealth management and deposit growth while mitigating external rate pressures through proactive balance sheet hedging.
According to slides accompanying the results, total income in 2026 is expected to be around 2025 levels despite rate headwinds, with group net interest income slightly lower than this year.
Non-interest income from the commercial book is projected to grow by high single digits, while wealth management income is expected to rise by mid-teens, the slides showed.
DBS kicked off the earnings season for Singapore banks, following mixed results from global peers last week.
HSBC posted a 14 per cent drop in third-quarter pretax profit after a US$1.4 billion litigation charge tied to the Bernard Madoff fraud, while Standard Chartered beat estimates with a 3 per cent rise in profit, helped by record wealth income and strong market activity.
DBS, which is also Southeast Asia's largest bank by assets, said July to September net profit fell to S$2.95 billion (US$2.28 billion) from S$3.03 billion a year earlier, mainly due to lower commercial book net interest income amid lower rates.
This beat the mean estimate of nearly S$2.72 billion from two analysts, according to LSEG data.
DBS's board declared a total dividend of 75 Singapore cents per share for the third quarter, comprising an ordinary dividend of 60 cents and a capital return dividend of 15 cents, versus 54 cents a year ago.
DBS’s net interest margin, a key profitability gauge, declined to 1.96 per cent during the quarter from 2.11 per cent a year earlier.
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"As we enter the coming year, we will continue to navigate the pressures of declining interest rates with nimble balance sheet management and our ability to capture structural opportunities across wealth management and institutional banking," chief executive officer Tan Su Shan said in a statement.
She added that total income reached a record high as the bank sustained strong momentum in wealth management and deposit growth while mitigating external rate pressures through proactive balance sheet hedging.
According to slides accompanying the results, total income in 2026 is expected to be around 2025 levels despite rate headwinds, with group net interest income slightly lower than this year.
Non-interest income from the commercial book is projected to grow by high single digits, while wealth management income is expected to rise by mid-teens, the slides showed.
DBS kicked off the earnings season for Singapore banks, following mixed results from global peers last week.
HSBC posted a 14 per cent drop in third-quarter pretax profit after a US$1.4 billion litigation charge tied to the Bernard Madoff fraud, while Standard Chartered beat estimates with a 3 per cent rise in profit, helped by record wealth income and strong market activity.
DBS, which is also Southeast Asia's largest bank by assets, said July to September net profit fell to S$2.95 billion (US$2.28 billion) from S$3.03 billion a year earlier, mainly due to lower commercial book net interest income amid lower rates.
This beat the mean estimate of nearly S$2.72 billion from two analysts, according to LSEG data.
DBS's board declared a total dividend of 75 Singapore cents per share for the third quarter, comprising an ordinary dividend of 60 cents and a capital return dividend of 15 cents, versus 54 cents a year ago.
DBS’s net interest margin, a key profitability gauge, declined to 1.96 per cent during the quarter from 2.11 per cent a year earlier.
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