Stock Earnings: OCBC

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) said its net profit for the first quarter to March rose 7 pct year-on-year to 318 mln sgd, bolstered by growth in both net interest income and non-interest income. "The healthy growth in our Malaysia business, additional contribution from Great Eastern Holdings and Bank NISP [in Indonesia], and stronger non-interest income performance in Singapore have helped to offset low loan growth and margin pressure in Singapore," OCBC chief executive David Conner said in a statement. The first-quarter net profit was in line with the 314-329 mln sgd range of estimates by analysts polled by XFN-Asia. OCBC said its net interest income grew 9 pct year-on-year to 395 mln sgd in the first quarter, while non-interest income increased 11 pct year-on-year to 348 mln sgd. Its earnings also benefitted from write-back of provisions for potential loan losses, amounting to 7 mln sgd during the quarter.
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp's (OCBC's) results for the first quarter to March:
Net interest income - 395.0 mln sgd vs 363.0 mln
Non-interest income - 348.0 mln sgd vs 312.0 mln
Pre-tax profit - 435.0 mln sgd vs 397.0 mln
Net profit - 318.0 mln sgd vs 298.0 mln
EPS - 0.412 sgd vs 0.382