DBS Group Announces a S$0.50 Special Dividend
The biggest bank in Singapore DBS Group declares a hefty dividend even as it projects this year’s loan growth to be in the low single digits.
The prestigious lender did not let down, releasing a staggering set of financial figures in keeping with the atmosphere of increased interest rates.
The bank’s overall revenue for the first time exceeded the S$16 billion threshold, and its net profit set a new record high of S$8.2 billion.
A special dividend of S$0.50 was also issued by DBS in light of the impressive achievements.
In FY2017, the bank already announced a special dividend.
Additionally, DBS divided the results of the group for the first time into “Commercial Book” and “Treasury Markets” to better represent trends in client performance.
In FY2022, DBS’ commercial book segment’s net interest income (NII) increased 40% year over year to S$10.7 billion as the bank benefited from higher interest rates.
However, the segment’s fee income fell 12% year over year to S$3.1 billion.
The overall income increased 16% year over year to a record S$16.5 billion despite the decreased fee income.
The lender’s profit before allowances increased by 22% to S$9.4 billion despite total costs only increasing by 10% annually.
To S$8.2 billion, net profit for FY2022 increased 20% from the previous year.
When the entire impact of higher interest rates is taken into account, DBS’ fourth quarter (4Q FY2022) data reveal that NII increased by 74% year over year to S$3.4 billion for its commercial book segment.
Total revenue almost reached S$4.6 billion, up 41% year over year, while the quarter’s net profit jumped 68% year over year to S$2.3 billion.
The increase in NII was significantly influenced by a larger net interest margin (NIM).
Its commercial book NIM increased significantly for FY2022, rising from 1.63% to 2.11%.
Nearly a full percentage point higher than the 1.65% recorded in the first quarter of this year, NIM for 4Q2022 was 2.61%.
NIM at the group level increased by 0.3 percentage points to 1.75 percent in FY2022, from 1.45% in FY2021.
There is cause for optimism that DBS’ NIM can remain over 2% given that its group NIM for the fourth quarter of FY2022 was 2.05% and CEO Piyush Gupta does not anticipate a rate decrease from the US central bank this year.
Article from - Revisen











