OCBC
Written by Thomson Reuters
Monday, 02 August 2010 12:44
OCBC (OCBC.SI), Singapore’s second-biggest lender, said its second-quarter profit rose eight%, slightly below forecasts, as margins remained under pressure because of low interest rates.
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp clocked a net profit of $503 million between April-June, compared with $466 million in the year-ago period. Analysts had predicted a net profit of $508 million, according to an average of eight forecasts compiled by Reuters.
The result came after rival DBS (DBSM.SI), Southeast Asia's biggest bank, last week posted an unexpected loss due to a one-time goodwill charge on its Hong Kong business.
Excluding the charge, DBS’s net profit was up 30% to $718 million, the highest quarterly profit ever, versus $552 million a year ago.
Singapore banks are struggling to take full advantage of fast loan growth and a drop in bad debt charges due to historically low interest rates.
Shares in OCBC are little changed this year compared with a 5.2% decline in rival DBS Group (DBSM.SI) and a 1.4% rise for UOB (UOBH.SI). The benchmark Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> is up about 4% this year.
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