Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., Southeast Asia’s second-largest bank, said fourth-quarter profit rose 18% as loan demand climbed reported Bloomberg.
Net income in the three months ended Dec. 31 rose to $594 million from $505 million a year earlier, the Singapore-based lender said in a statement to the stock exchange today. That beat the $574.3 million average of eight analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
OCBC joins larger rival DBS Group Holdings in reporting quarterly earnings that beat analysts’ estimates on loan expansion. Lending may weaken in coming months after Singapore adopted measures to curb mortgages in December, and asset quality may decline as the economy cools.
“Loan growth was significant for all Singapore banks including OCBC over the quarter, and that should have done enough to offset the slight narrowing of net interest margins,” Sam Hilton, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc., said before the results.
DBS said Feb. 10 its quarterly profit gained 7.8% to $731 million.
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