Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, Singapore's second-biggest lender, posted an 18 percent rise in quarterly profit, buoyed by strong loan growth, beating expectations.
OCBC reported net profit of S$594 million in October-December, compared to S$505 million a year earlier.
This compared to an average forecast of S$551 million, according to five analysts polled by Reuters.
OCBC is in the process of a leadership change as CEO David Conner retires in April after a decade at the bank. He will be replaced by Samuel Tsien who heads the corporate bank.
The result comes a week after DBS Group , Southeast Asia's biggest bank, posted an unexpected 8 percent rise in quarterly profit, beating expectations as strong loan growth propelled key net interest income upward by 17 percent.