DBS reports resilient earnings, targets S Asia
DBS, Singapore’s largest bank by assets, has posted net profits
of S$2.06 billion ($1.4 billion) for 2009, unchanged from fiscal
2008 and ahead of analyst forecasts.
Net interest income grew 4 percent to a record S$4.46 billion
with non-interest income rising 24 percent to S$2.15 billion with
expenses stable from the previous year.
DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta set a target of deriving 30
percent of its revenues from South Asia and South East Asia within
the next five years, with 40 percent from Singapore and 30 percent
from the greater China region.
DBS earns more than 60 percent of its income from Singapore and
almost 30 percent from greater China.
“2009 was a tough year by any measure and the team has done
well. We grew deposits and a healthy pipeline of mortgages in
Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan,” said Gupta.
He highlighted successes in India, where DBS has doubled
revenues since 2007. In Taiwan, the bank has reported a profit a
year ahead of schedule while customer numbers have grown four-fold
in China in the past two years.
In the past year, the bank strengthened its balance sheet via a
S$4 billion rights issue raising the Tier 1 capital ratio to 13.1
percent.