3Q 2024 Financial Results Media Briefing

Welcome to DBS’s third-quarter results briefing.

Thanks, Edna.

Highlights. We delivered a record performance for the third quarter with profit surpassing $3 billion for the first time. Net profit increased 15% from a year ago to $3.03 billion, as total income rose 11% to $5.75 billion. The growth was broad-based. Commercial book net interest income rose from balance sheet growth and a stable net interest margin. Net fee income increased to a new high, led by wealth management, while Treasury customer sales also grew. Markets trading income rose to the highest level in ten quarters.

Expenses increased 10%, with Citi Taiwan accounting for three percentage points of the increase. The cost-income ratio was 39%.

For the first nine months, net profit rose 11% to a record $8.79 billion, with ROE at 18.8%. Total income rose 11% to a new high of $16.8 billion from growth in both the commercial bulk and markets trading. The broad-based increase in commercial book was from higher net interest margin, balance sheet growth, as well as record fee income and treasury customer sales.

Asset quality was resilient. Non-performing assets declined 8% from the previous quarter as repayments, upgrades and write-offs more than offset new NPA formation. The NPL ratio fell from 1.1% to 1.0%. Specific allowances remain below the cycle average at 14 basis points of loans for the third quarter and 11 basis points for the nine months.

Capital was healthy. Based on the final Basel III reforms, the transitional CET-1 ratio was 17.2%, with the fully phased-in ratio at 15.2%.

The board announced a new $3 billion share buyback programme. The programme is underpinned by a strong capital position and is another affirmation of our commitment to capital management. The third quarter dividend was maintained at 54 cents per share.

Share buyback programme. Today we announced the establishment of a new $3 billion share buyback programme. Under the programme, shares will be purchased in the open market and canceled for the first time. The buybacks will be carried out at management's discretion and subject to market conditions. These purchases will be over and above the periodic buybacks we already carried out for employee share plans.

The programme will reduce our fully phased-in CET-1 ratio by around 0.8 percentage points when completed. At the same time, it will provide a permanent lift to earnings per share, in addition to raising ROE.

The programme is the latest in a series of capital management initiatives undertaken by the Board, which included a doubling of the ordinary dividend over the past five years, occasional special dividends, and the recent bonus issue that effectively raised dividends.

Our dividend policy remains unchanged – we will continue paying ordinary dividends that are sustainable and rise progressively with earnings.

Dividends continue to be the primary means of returning capital to shareholders. Since 2019, we have doubled ordinary dividends to an annualised $6 billion, reflecting the significant structural improvements our franchise has achieved.