The board is recommending an interim dividend of 18 cents per share, to which the scrip dividend scheme will be applied. Net profit at DBS grew to S$2.01 billion ($1.52 billion) for the January-March period, up from S$1.01 in the previous quarter and 72 percent higher year-on-year, according to first-quarter earnings posted on Friday.
It cited strong business momentum and stabilizing asset quality as behind the record quarter – loans grew 3 percent and deposits increased 2 percent from the previous quarter, while fee income rose 28 percent on-quarter to a record S$953 million and Treasury Markets income reached a new high. Bad loans were also at pre-pandemic levels.
Wealth management fees also grew 24 percent to a record S$519 million on the back of strong investor demand across a wide range of investment products in a low-interest rate environment, DBS said.
This has been an extraordinary quarter for our business as we fired on all cylinders, Piyush Gupta, DBS chief executive, said in a statement.
During the quarter, DBS grew its franchise in the Greater Bay Area with a stake in Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank, and announced the development of Partior – an open industry platform with Temasek and J.P. Morgan that aims to reimagine and accelerate value movements for payments, trade, and foreign exchange settlement.
The global economic rebound is strengthening and we are bullish about prospects for the coming year, Gupta added.