SINGAPORE: Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC Bank) said on Wednesday that it recorded a net profit of 3.9 billion Singapore dollars for the whole year of 2015, an increase of 13 percent from a year ago.
For the fourth quarter, net profit was up 21 percent to reach 960 million Singapore dollars, the bank added.
The earnings was underpinned by higher net interest income, fee and commission income growth, as well as improved trading and investment income.
The Singapore-headquartered banking group’s net interest income rose 10 percent to 5.19 billion Singapore dollars last year while the group’s non-interest income rose 10 percent to 3.53 billion Singapore dollars. Fee and commission income also increased 10 percent to a new high of 1.64 billion Singapore dollars, led by growth in wealth management, brokerage and fund management fees.
OCBC’s net interest margin, a measure of lending profitability, rose to 1.74 percent in the fourth quarter from 1.67 percent a year ago.
