Banks

OCBC well positioned to cope with headwinds: CEO

OCBC: Proved that we can grow outside home market
VIDEO4:4304:43
OCBC: Proved that we can grow outside home market

Singapore's , which posted record profit in the first quarter, is well positioned to cope with upcoming headwinds including the city state's slowing property market and a growth deceleration in key market China, said CEO Samuel Tsien.

"Our portfolio quality continues to be very well managed, we have no particular concern for that," Tsien told CNBC on Wednesday.

"Growth in the [Singapore] housing loan market will probably reduce, and we need to replenish it with some other growth areas [including] trade [finance] and overseas market expansion," he said.

Munshi Ahmed | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The bank earned a record S$899 million ($715 million) in net profit for the quarter, up from S$696 million in the same period a year earlier, and above an average forecast of S$727 million from four analysts.

The stellar earnings growth was driven by the lender's trade finance business as well as its operations in Indonesia and Greater China, he said.

Read MoreSingapore DBS net profit up 9%, beats expectations

In March, OCBC Bank offered to pay almost $5 billion for Hong Kong's Wing Hang Bank - one of the city's last remaining family-owned banks – in a deal that would give the lender a gateway to the Greater China region.

Discussing the decision to bid for the bank he said, "Wing Hang is an SME bank, and that comes along with a lot of advantages. It (also) provides us with access to the offshore RMB [market]."