SINGAPORE: United Overseas Bank, Singapore’s third-biggest lender, posted a 1.6 per cent rise in quarterly profit, but the earnings were slightly below analysts’ average forecast as the bank reported slower loan growth than its two rivals.
UOB said net profit for the January-March period came in at $801 million, slightly below an average forecast of $807 million from six analysts polled by Reuters, and 1.9 per cent higher than fourth quarter of 2014. UOB reported a net profit of $788 million a year earlier.
UOB saw loan growth of 7.8 per cent from a year earlier versus 20 per cent for Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, Singapore’s second-biggest lender, which earlier posted an 11 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit DBS Group Holdings, Singapore’s biggest bank, reported loan growth of 11 per cent from a year earlier.
