DBS Group second-quarter profit jumps 17%, beating expectations

• DBS Group Holdings, Southeast Asia's biggest lender, beat market estimates by reporting a 17% increase in second-quarter profit, supported by a rise in net interest income.
• Its net profit came in at S$1.6 billion ($1.2 billion) in the three months ending June, beating an average estimate of S$1.47 billion from three analysts, according to data from Refinitiv.
• Analysts 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.

Singapore's biggest bank DBS Group reported on Thursday first-quarter results that trumped expectations with broad-based growth and said it expects net profit to exceed last year's record result.

Edgar Su | Reuters

DBS Group Holdings, Southeast Asia's biggest lender, beat market estimates by reporting a 17% increase in second-quarter profit, supported by a rise in net interest income.

The Singaporean bank's net profit came in at 1.6 billion Singapore dollars ($1.2 billion) in the three months ending June, versus 1.37 billion Singapore dollars a year earlier and an average estimate of 1.47 billion Singapore dollars from three analysts, according to data from Refinitiv.

Analysts 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% in the latest quarter as loans grew 5% in constant-currency terms and net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability, improved six basis points to 1.91%.