DBS consumer banking/wealth management arm has reported a pre-tax profit of S$722m ($530m) for the first quarter of 2019.
This is an increase of 15% from previous year’s profit of S$627m.
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The unit’s total income stood at S$1.56bn, up 15% from S$1.36bn.
Expenses increased 16% to S$792m from S$685m.
The rise in expenses is said to be driven by increase in headcount and investment in business capabilities.
The banking group’s institutional banking division reported pre-tax profit of S$1.01bn for the three-month period ended 31 March 2019, a 22% surge from S$832m last year.
The unit’s total income increased 10% year-on-year to S$1.5bn.
Group performance
Overall, DBS group posted a net profit of S$1.65bn for the first quarter of 2019.
This marks a rise of 9% from S$1.52bn in the same quarter of 2018.
The group’s total income increased 6% to S$3.55bn from S$3.36bn while expenses increased 7% year-on-year to S$1.5bn.
The common equity tier 1 ratio and leverage ratio were 14.1% and 7.3%, respectively, at the end of March 2019.
DBS CEO Piyush Gupta said: “We have had a good start to the year as business momentum was sustained and non-interest income recovered from the recent weakness.
“The record earnings and ROE progression demonstrate the strengthened profitability of our franchise from digitalisation, a shift towards higher-returns businesses and more nimble execution.”
