The Consumer Banking/Wealth Management arm of DBS has reported a pre-tax profit of S$577m ($415.5m) for Q4 2019.

This is a 2% rise from the previous year’s figure of $589m. However, it is lower than the S$730m earned in the previous quarter.

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Total income at the division of S$1.51bn in Q4 2019 was 4% higher than the prior year.

Net interest income for the three-month period ended 31 December 2019 was S$987m, down 1% from S$999m a year ago. This was said to be driven by lower net interest margin.

In addition, wealth management fees rose 13% as demand for investment products increased in the second half of the year.

Higher investment and bancassurance product fee resulted in a 16% surge in non-interest income to S$522m. Expenses rose 4% year-on-year to S$839m.

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For 2019, the consumer banking/wealth management arm took in S$2,777m in profit before tax. This is up from the S$2,394m pre-tax profit in 2018, a 16% rise.

Furthermore, expenses rose 8% to S$3.28bn due to continued investment in business capabilities.

DBS Group performance in Q4 2019

At a group level, the bank’s net profit in Q4 2019 stood at S$1.51bn, a 14% rise compared to S$1.32bn in Q4 2018.

Net interest income increased 4% year-on-year to S$2.43bn. Net fee income soared 17% to S$741m from S$635m, driven by a 31% surge in wealth management fees.

Expenses rose 7% to S$1.6bn from S$1.5bn over the period.

The group’s CET1 ratio and leverage ratio at the end of December 2019 were 14.1% and 7%, respectively. The figures were said to comfortably exceed the regulatory requirements.

DBS CEO Piyush Gupta said: “Our record performance with return on equity at a new high of 13.2% demonstrates a franchise that delivers high quality results.

“The increased quarterly dividend proposed by the Board reflects the enhanced capacity of our business to generate earnings and reward shareholders.”

Earlier this week, DBS evacuated 300 employees after confirming that one employee had contracted the coronavirus.