By Megan Cheah
DBS Group shares rose to a new intraday high, while that of Singapore peer United Overseas Bank fell, after the pair of banks reported third-quarter results.
Shares of DBS rose nearly 3% to S$55.10 on Thursday morning. The stock was last 1.5% higher.
DBS's net profit fell 2% to 2.95 billion Singapore dollars, equivalent to US$2.26 billion, it said Thursday. This beat the consensus estimate of S$2.765 billion by analysts polled by Visible Alpha.
DBS's nine-month profit came in at around 78% of Citi's estimate for the full year, analyst Tan Yong Hong said in a note. The company's guidance of lower net profit for 2026 is likely intact due to the higher base this year, he added.
Meanwhile, United Overseas Bank's shares retreated as much as 4.6% to S$33.25. Its shares were last 3.3% lower.
UOB's profit for the three months ended September plunged 72% from a year earlier to S$443 million.
Singapore's third-largest bank took steps to shore up pre-emptive general allowances, strengthening its provision coverage amid ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties and sector-specific headwinds. The lender reiterated that the pre-emptive provision won't weigh on its final dividend this year.
The general provision buffer allows the bank more room to cope with any asset-quality changes, said UOB Chief Financial Officer Leong Yung Chee during a media briefing. The bank is starting to execute some recoveries in its commercial real-estate portfolio, he added.
Leong said UOB logged new nonperforming assets in the third quarter specifically from commercial real estate clients in the U.S. and Greater China. While these make up a small amount of its total loan portfolio, the bank continues to see headwinds in these markets, he said.
UOB's earnings missed Citi's estimate due to one-off "kitchen sinking profits," Tan said in a note. He reiterated Citi's overweight view on DBS and underweight view on UOB view based on the banks' asset quality.
The stock moves bring DBS shares' year-to-date gains to over 26%, while UOB has fallen by close to 6%.
Write to Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 05, 2025 21:49 ET (02:49 GMT)
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