OCBC raised its 2026 loan-growth outlook for a second time this year after banking operations reached a quarterly record, while the Singapore lender’s third-quarter net profit rose 3% to S$2.04 billion, The Straits Times reported Friday.
Profit from banking operations totaled S$1.9 billion, 16% above the year-earlier period. The Straits Times said record income, low credit costs and stronger contributions from associates supported the increase. OCBC’s net profit for the first nine months was S$6.24 billion, up 10%, and quarterly earnings have exceeded S$2 billion for two consecutive quarters, the report said.
Net interest income reached S$2.31 billion, its highest level in six quarters, as lending growth and improved yields offset higher funding costs, according to The Straits Times. Customer loans rose 14% to S$372 billion, while deposits increased 12% to S$461 billion.
Fee income gained 8%, with contributions from wealth management and lending and transaction-related businesses, the paper reported. Wealth-management fees made up more than 60% of group fees, and assets under management in the business climbed 7% to S$358 billion. Trading income fell 10%, while insurance income dropped 37%, largely reflecting Great Eastern’s weaker investment performance, the report said.
Great Eastern’s third-quarter net profit was S$102.9 million, down 72% from a year earlier, The Straits Times reported, citing results released Nov. 2. The paper linked the decline to weaker investment valuations and a loss associated with the partial divestment of the insurer’s Indonesian subsidiary. Excluding Great Eastern, OCBC’s total income grew 6%; including the insurer’s impact, it declined 2%, according to the report.
OCBC now expects loan growth in the low double digits for 2026, revising its previous outlook upward from a range spanning high single digits to low double digits, The Straits Times reported. The bank expects total income to increase by at least a mid-single-digit rate, while net interest income may show little change or contract modestly. It lowered its credit-cost projection to 15 to 20 basis points, from 20 to 25 basis points previously.
OCBC Group Chief Executive Tan Teck Long said its four core markets continue to grow, while near-term conditions depend partly on energy prices amid the Middle East conflict. The report said OCBC plans to finish its S$2.5 billion capital-return program by 2026, then apply a 50% payout ratio to ordinary dividends.
