DBS, OCBC, UOB shares drop after Q3 results; SATS hit by work pass concerns: Markets this week

In this column, ST’s business correspondents unpack the latest developments in Singapore and global markets during the week – and explain what they mean for investors.

The US Democrats midterm elections’ victory led a US$2.5 trillion (S$3.2 trillion) wipeout for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 on Nov 5.

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s three major banks saw their share prices drop this week. This followed DBS and UOB reporting lower-than-expected earnings and net interest margins for the third quarter ending Sept 30.

DBS closed on Nov 6 at $69.72, down 3.78% from Nov 2 when it opened at $72.46, as net profit for the quarter missed estimates and fell 5% to $2.81 billion due to lower market trading income amid unfavourable equity market conditions.

The group’s ​markets trading income sank 65% year on year to $152 million for the quarter because of weaker Asian asset performance, dislocated equity market volatility, rising interest rates towards the end of the third quarter, and a drop in volume.

The bank announced on Nov 5 that its chairman Peter Seah will retire at the end of 2026 after 16 years at the helm, with board member Anthony Lim taking over from Jan 1, 2027. Seah will be appointed senior adviser for a year.

UOB shares fell 10.27% over the week, closing at $36.88 from the week’s high of $41.10 on Nov 2.

The bank’s third-quarter net profit jumped 182% to $1.25 billion from a year earlier, on the back of strong growth in wealth, cards and loan-related activities.

The main contributors were a sharp decline in provisions for credit and other losses to $258 million from $1.36 billion, a 1% increase in net interest income to $2.28 billion and 19% growth in net fee income to $733 million.

Still, net profit was 15% lower than the previous quarter’s $1.48 billion and it missed the $1.38 billion consensus among analysts polled by Bloomberg.

OCBC saw a 4.28% drop during the week on its shares, closing on Nov 6 at $27.73 from a high of $28.97 on Nov 2.

This was despite net earnings going up 3% compared with a year ago to hit $2.04 billion, making this the bank’s second consecutive quarter in which its earnings exceeded $2 billion.