DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ UOB reports first-quarter profit fell less than expected, maintains 2024 growth outlook
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Singapore's United Overseas Bank, or UOB, reported a smaller-than-expected decline in first quarter net profit on Wednesday, squeezed by net interest margins, and maintained its outlook for income growth in 2024. Singapore's United Overseas Bank reported a smaller-than-expected decline in first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, squeezed by net interest margins, and maintained its outlook for income growth in 2024. "Despite heightened geopolitical tensions, our home region of Southeast Asia is relatively resilient," UOB CEO Wee Ee Cheong said in a statement. "We continued to see ongoing shifts in global supply chains and sustained tourism activities," he added. UOB, which is also Southeast Asia's third-largest bank by assets, also maintained its guidance for low single-digit loan growth and double-digit fee growth, according to Wee's presentation slides accompanying the results.

Persons: Wee Ee Cheong Organizations: Singapore's United Overseas Bank Locations: Southeast Asia

☆ Singapore convicts first suspect in record money laundering case
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Clement Tan | In Clemtan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A Porsche 911 Targa vehicle seized by police at a residence of Su Jiafeng, one of the suspects in the S$2.8 billion money-laundering case, in Singapore, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Singapore on Tuesday sentenced the first person to plead guilty in the Southeast Asia island-state's biggest money laundering scandal to a 13-month imprisonment. Public prosecutors went ahead with two counts of money laundering after an agreement to consider the remaining nine charges for sentencing. The Singapore police said it has seized around 6 million Singapore dollars ($4.44 million) worth of assets from Su. The value of all assets seized to date now exceeds more than 3 billion Singapore dollars, according to court documents.

Persons: Su Jiafeng, Su Wenqiang, Mercedes, Dior, Su Organizations: Cambodian, Public, Singapore, CNBC, United Overseas Bank Locations: Singapore, Southeast Asia, Philippines

☆ I live in the Philippines but was committed to seeing Taylor Swift in Singapore. I'm spending $1,600 and making a whole trip out of it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Marielle Descalsota | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Eunice Mecija, a Taylor Swift fan from the Philippines, shared how she budgeted for the Eras Tour in Singapore. AdvertisementThis as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Eunice Mecija, a 24-year-old graphic artist and Taylor Swift fan from the Philippines. I've been a Taylor Swift fan for as long as I can remember. I decided to book a flight from Manila to Kuala Lumpur with AirAsia instead for 14,000 Philippine pesos, or around $250. Mecija has been a fan of Taylor Swift since she was in elementary school.

Persons: Eunice Mecija, Taylor, splurging, —, Taylor Swift, It's, I've, Taylor Swift's, Nicky Loh, I'm, Mecija Organizations: Service, Getty, United Overseas Bank, Singapore ., Singapore Airlines, AirAsia Locations: Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Manila, Southeast Asia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian, Stockholm, Swedish

☆ Singapore's UOB revises down 2024 loan growth, fourth-quarter profit beats forecasts
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A customer uses an ATM at an United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB) branch in Singapore, on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. Singapore's United Overseas Bank, or UOB, on Thursday cut its 2024 loan growth projections to low single-digits from mid-single digits after posting a stronger-than-forecast 22% jump in fourth quarter net profit. UOB maintained its 2024 guidance for double-digit fee growth while projecting total income to see positive growth, according to UOB CEO Wee Ee Cheong's earnings presentation slides. Credit costs for 2024 are expected to be at the lower end of its previous 25 to 30 basis points guidance range. "Global economic outlook remains uncertain in the near term, but Southeast Asia continues to be a bright spot," Wee said in a statement.

Persons: UOB, Wee Ee, Wee Organizations: United Overseas Bank Ltd, Singapore's United Overseas Bank Locations: Singapore, Southeast Asia

☆ Morgan Stanley names global 'alpha' stock ideas for January — and gives one 50% upside
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Amala Balakrishner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Asian markets may have had a rocky 2023, but those looking for pockets of opportunities in the region can look to Morgan Stanley's selection of "alpha" stocks. Another top stock that Morgan Stanley is overweight on is the Singapore-headquartered United Overseas Bank . Here are 10 stocks from Morgan Stanley's full list of top overweight-rated stocks for January. Notable bottom-ranked stocks Morgan Stanley also named its "notable bottom-ranked stock ideas." These factors "should result in a wider discount to peers like Telstra ," the investment bank's analysts wrote.

Persons: Morgan Stanley's, Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Michael Bloom Organizations: Alpha, Asia, SK Telecom, Korea, United Overseas Bank, ASEAN, Morgan, TPG Telecom, Telstra Locations: Asia, Pacific, Japan, Asia Pacific, Korean, Singapore

DBS, which is also Southeast Asia's largest lender, has already forecast a record full-year profit for the current year. "Net profit (for 2024) to be maintained around record 2023 level," CEO Piyush Gupta said in results presentation materials. The bank's July-September net profit rose to S$2.63 billion ($1.94 billion) from S$2.24 billion a year earlier as total income grew to a record on higher interest margins and fee income. Besides higher global interest rates, Singapore banks have benefitted from strong inflows of wealth drawn in by the city-state's political stability. Smaller peer United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI) reported in end-October a weaker-than-expected 1% drop in third-quarter net profit.

Persons: Ann Wang, Piyush Gupta, Gupta, Yantoultra Ngui, Josie Kao Organizations: DBS, REUTERS, Bank, Q3 SINGAPORE, LSEG, United Overseas Bank, Chinese Banking Corp, Thomson Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, Singapore

☆ Singapore's largest bank DBS beats forecast, quarterly profit jumps 17%
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Singapore bank also declared a dividend of 48 Singapore cents for each ordinary share for the third quarter. It was higher that analysts' estimates compiled by LSEG, which predicted a quarterly profit estimate of SG$2.5 billion for the July to September quarter. During the quarter, net profit rose to 2.63 billion Singaporean dollars ($1.94 billion) compared to SG$2.24 billion a year ago. Southeast Asia's largest lender DBS Group reported a 17% jump in third-quarter profit on Monday, benefiting from a high-interest rate environment. Smaller rival United Overseas Bank posted a 1% drop in third-quarter net profit in October, missing analysts' expectations.

Persons: Piyush Gupta, Gupta Organizations: LSEG, DBS Group, DBS, United Overseas Bank, Chinese Banking Corporation Locations: Singapore

☆ Singapore bank UOB sees stronger 2024 outlook, third-quarter net profit trails estimate
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The United Overseas Bank (UOB) building is pictured in the Raffles Place financial district in Singapore on August 10, 2023. Singapore's United Overseas Bank , or UOB, expected a stronger outlook for next year including better loan and fees growth, as it reported on Thursday a weaker-than-expected 1% drop in third-quarter net profit from a year earlier. UOB, Singapore's third-largest bank by assets, projected mid single-digit loan growth and double-digit fee growth for its 2024 outlook, versus low-to-mid single-digit loan growth and high single-digit fees growth for this year's outlook. UOB said July-September net profit dropped to S$1.38 billion ($1 billion) from S$1.40 billion a year earlier, mainly on the back of higher allowances for credit and other losses, as well as Citigroup integration costs. The profit was lower than the mean estimate of S$1.46 billion from four analysts polled by LSEG.

Persons: Wee Ee Cheong, UOB's, UOB Organizations: United Overseas Bank, Raffles, Singapore's United Overseas Bank, Citigroup, LSEG Locations: Singapore, Southeast, ASEAN

☆ U.S. and China commercial property markets face headwinds but UOB is optimistic on Southeast Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Commercial real estate markets in the U.S. and China are economic pain points to monitor in a higher-for-longer rate environment, said Singapore's United Overseas Bank. But the bank remains optimistic about one key region. "The U.S. commercial real estate remains a hotspot, especially with the low occupancy rates that we have," Lee Wai Fai, chief financial officer of UOB told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia." "The other hotspots will be China, there [are] worries about the quality and whether they can manage the property uncertainty in China," he added. Lee added the world is heading into a more "uncertain environment" and the impact of higher-for-longer interest rates is starting to filter through the economy.

Persons: Lee Wai Fai, UOB, CNBC's, Lee Organizations: Singapore's United Overseas Bank Locations: U.S, China

Investors were also excited by Tuesday's approval of an additional 1 trillion yuan ($136.76 billion) of sovereign bond issuance. Drawing investors back into China's $10.5 trillion stock market, particularly the foreign buyers that have fled in droves this year, would stem further slides in a market which fell to its lowest since 2019 earlier this week. "China's central government is endorsing the stock market," said Qi Wang, chief investment officer of UOB Kay Hian's wealth management division in Hong Kong. Huijin last bought ETFs during the 2015 stock market crash, and during the money market liquidity crunch in 2013. Still, China's stock markets have to overcome earlier heavy selling from foreigners, burnt by Xi's previous crackdowns on internet companies and other sectors, and its earlier stringent zero-COVID policy.

Persons: China's, Huang Yan, QiuYang, Huang, Pan Gongsheng, Qi Wang, UOB Kay, Huijin, Fabiana Fedeli, Fedeli, Goldman Sachs, Samuel Shen, Ankur Banerjee, Brigid Riley, Vidya Ranganathan Organizations: Central Huijin Investment, Shanghai QiuYang, People's Bank of China, Sino, CSI, Huijin, China Asset Management Co, Singapore's United Overseas Bank, G Investments, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, SINGAPORE, Shanghai, China, Hong Kong, Tokyo

The quarterly results from OCBC, also Southeast Asia's second largest lender by assets, rounded up a strong earnings season by Singapore banks as DBS Group (DBSM.SI) and United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI) also delivered double-digit profit growth. Besides higher interest rates, Singapore lenders have also benefited from strong inflows from wealthy customers amid global uncertainty, including U.S.-China geopolitical tensions, because of the city-state's status as a financial safe-haven. Higher interest rates and slower economic growth could raise asset-quality risks for businesses and individual customers, he said, adding weak loan demand could negatively impact net interest income growth momentum once margin expansion peaks. OCBC said April-June net profit climbed to S$1.71 billion ($1.28 billion) from S$1.28 billion a year earlier mainly driven by better income growth and partly offset by higher allowances for non-impaired assets. The figure compared with a mean estimate of a S$1.76 billion profit from four analysts polled by Refinitiv.

Persons: ROE, Thilan Wickramasinghe, OCBC, NIM, Yantoultra Ngui, Tom Hogue, Shri Navaratnam, Jamie Freed Organizations: Chinese Banking Corp, DBS, United Overseas Bank, Maybank Securities, Refinitiv, Thomson Locations: Singapore, SINGAPORE, Asia's, U.S, China, Malaysia

☆ Singapore bank OCBC second-quarter earnings rise; sees rate cuts from 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Yantoultra Ngui | Thomson Reuters | Yantoultra Ngui Is A Southeast Asia Deals Correspondent With Reuters In Singapore | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The quarterly results from OCBC, also Southeast Asia's second largest lender by assets, rounded up a strong earnings season by Singapore banks as DBS Group (DBSM.SI) and United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI) also delivered double-digit profit growth. Besides higher interest rates, Singapore lenders have also benefited from strong inflows from wealthy customers amid global uncertainty, including U.S.-China geopolitical tensions, because of the city-state's status as a financial safe-haven. The figure compared with a mean estimate of a S$1.76 billion profit from four analysts polled by Refinitiv. The bank projected its full-year net interest margin, a key profitability gauge, to be above 2.2%, return on equity in the range of 14% and low-to-mid single-digit loan growth. ($1 = 1.3410 Singapore dollars)Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Tom Hogue, Shri Navaratnam and Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: ROE, Helen Wong, Thilan Wickramasinghe, OCBC, Wong, Yantoultra Ngui, Tom Hogue, Shri Navaratnam, Jamie Freed Organizations: Chinese Banking Corp, DBS, United Overseas Bank, Maybank Securities, Refinitiv, Thomson Locations: Singapore, SINGAPORE, Asia's, U.S, China, Malaysia

☆ Singapore's UOB expects 'some upside' to interest income after Fed rate hike
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Clement Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Singapore's United Overseas Bank is expecting "some upside" in interest income in the next quarter, after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a fresh rate hike overnight. Its net interest income for the quarter grew 31% from a year ago — boosted by robust net interest margin that expanded 50 basis points to 2.13% on higher interest rates, the Singapore-based lender said in a statement released early Thursday. Net interest margin, a measure of lending profitability for banks, is the difference between interest earned and interest paid. Overnight on Wall Street, the Fed raised interest rates by 25 basis points, taking its benchmark borrowing costs to a target range of 5.25%-5.5% — the highest level in more than 22 years. The midpoint of that target range would be the highest level for the benchmark rate since early 2001.

Persons: Lee Wai Fai, CNBC's JP Ong Organizations: Singapore's United Overseas Bank, U.S . Federal Reserve Locations: Singapore

☆ Singapore bank OCBC posts record quarterly profit, upgrades margin guidance
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Yantoultra Ngui | Thomson Reuters | Yantoultra Ngui Is A Southeast Asia Deals Correspondent With Reuters In Singapore | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OCBC, which is also Southeast Asia's second-biggest bank by assets, said January-March net profit rose 39% to S$1.88 billion ($1.42 billion), beating the mean estimate of S$1.74 billion from five analysts polled by Refinitiv. OCBC reported a total net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability, of 2.30% for the first quarter, up from 1.55% in the same period a year earlier. The bank forecast a full-year net interest margin of about 2.2%, up from 2.1% previously. The first quarter was also strong for Singapore's other major banks, with larger peer DBS Group (DBSM.SI) reporting last week a 43% jump in first quarter net profit that was also a record. Smaller United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI) posted last month a 74% surge in core net profit.

OCBC, which is also Southeast Asia's second-biggest bank by assets, said January-March net profit rose to a record S$1.88 billion ($1.42 billion) from S$1.36 billion a year earlier. The bank reported a total net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability, of 2.30% for the first quarter, up from 1.55% in the same period a year earlier. OCBC expected full-year net interest margin in the region of 2.2%. The first quarter was also strong for Singapore's other major banks, with larger peer DBS Group (DBSM.SI) reporting last week a 43% jump in first quarter net profit that was also a record. Smaller United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI) posted last month a 74% surge in core net profit.

DBS, which is also Southeast Asia's largest lender by assets, said January-March net profit rose to S$2.57 billion ($1.92 billion) from S$1.8 billion a year ago, beating a mean estimate of S$2.44 billion from five analysts polled by Refinitiv. Return on equity rose to a new high of 18.6% in the first quarter from 13.1% the same quarter a year earlier, according to its financial statement. Smaller peer United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI) reported on Thursday a 74% surge in core net profit in the first quarter from a year earlier on the back of strong net interest and non- interest income growth. DBS, which earns most of its profit from Singapore and Hong Kong, declared a dividend of 42 Singapore cents per share for the first quarter. ($1 = 1.3362 Singapore dollars)Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Southeast Asia's largest lender by assets however said its net interest margin likely peaked in the first quarter and there would be a gradual decline. January-March net profit rose to S$2.57 billion ($1.9 billion) from S$1.8 billion a year ago, beating a mean estimate of S$2.44 billion from five analysts polled by Refinitiv. DBS reported a total net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability, of 2.12% for the first quarter, up from 1.46% in the same period a year earlier. DBS expected full-year net interest margin at 2.05% to 2.10%. DBS, which earns most of its profit from Singapore and Hong Kong, declared a dividend of 42 Singapore cents per share for the first quarter.

☆ Singapore lender UOB's Q1 core profit leaps 74% to record $1.2 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, April 27 (Reuters) - Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI) reported on Thursday a 74% surge in core profit in the first quarter from a year earlier on the back of strong net interest and non-interest income growth. The lender's core profit, which excludes one-off expenses, rose to a record S$1.58 billion ($1.20 billion) in the first quarter, just above the mean estimate of some S$1.55 billion from four analysts polled by Refinitiv. Net profit in the first quarter climbed 67% to $1.51 billion. "We delivered record profits this quarter backed by our core businesses and diversified growth drivers," Wee Ee Cheong, CEO of the Southeast Asia-focused bank said in a statement. ($1 = 1.3348 Singapore dollars)(This story has been corrected to clarify core net profit is up 74%, not net profit, and adds definition of core net profit)Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Self-driving startup Venti raises $28.8 mln to speed up growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Nick Carey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Self-driving startup Venti Technologies said on Tuesday it has raised $28.8 million in Series A funding to speed up the growth of its autonomous vehicle (AV) business for customers the logistics and supply chain industry. Investors in the funding round included LG Technology Ventures, the venture capital arm of LG Corp (003550.KS) unit LG Group, and UOB Venture Management, the venture capital arm of Singapore's United Overseas Bank. Venti has been developing its self-driving for vehicles for the last three years at one of the world's largest container ports in Singapore and is already generating revenue. This year the company will deploy dozens of entirely self-driving vehicles, CEO Heidi Wyle told Reuters. Developing fully self-driving vehicles that can go everywhere has proven harder and more expensive than expected, but investors are continuing to fund startups that target simpler self-driving vehicle solutions far removed from pedestrians and other vehicles operated by humans.

☆ As global stocks fall, Asia-Pacific's benchmark index erases all of its gains for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

On Tuesday, bank stocks in Japan declined sharply, weighing on the wider Topix, which led the sell-off in Asia-Pacific. Tokyo-listed shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 8.59%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shed 7.57% and Mizuho Financial Group dropped 7.14%. Yeap also noted indexes such as the Straits Times Index in Singapore has close to 45% of its weightage in bank stocks. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart iconNomura equity strategists including Chetan Seth reiterated their February call and still expect more gains for the index. "We are inclined to believe that these issues will not be systemic to the health of the banking sector," he said.

☆ UOB completes deal for Citi's Vietnam consumer banking business
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, March 1 (Reuters) - Citigroup (C.N) said on Wednesday that it had completed the sale of its Vietnam retail banking and consumer credit card businesses to Singapore's United Overseas Bank in a transaction expected to result in a "modest regulatory capital benefit". United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI), commonly known as UOB, said in a separate statement that it planned to complete the acquisition of Citigroup's Indonesian consumer banking business by the end of 2023. The lender announced in November the completion of its purchase of Citigroup's Malaysia and Thailand retail banking businesses. UOB's purchase of Citigroup's consumer businesses in the four Southeast Asian markets for about S$5 billion ($3.71 billion) marks its biggest acquisition in two decades. ($1 = 1.3476 Singapore dollars)Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The dollar-yuan may stay below 7 for 'a while longer,' says UOB
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe dollar-yuan may stay below 7 for 'a while longer,' says UOBPeter Chia of the United Overseas Bank discusses why the Chinese yuan did not show any weakness following weak economic data.

☆ Pay attention to upcoming Fed meetings, says UOB
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailPay attention to upcoming Fed meetings, says UOBHeng Koon How of United Overseas Bank discusses the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's hawkish 75 basis point interest rate hike.

Helen Wong, Group CEO of OCBC Bank poses for a portrait during an interview with Reuters in Singapore October 10, 2022. And while OCBC earned nearly half of its operating profit from Singapore, Greater China was the next-largest contributor, followed by Malaysia. She added that OCBC benefited from having both a brick-and-mortar and a strong digital footprint. This has increased attention on OCBC, which has the strongest capital position among Singapore banks. Sanford Bernstein analysts said in a report in June that OCBC had S$4.8 billion that could be used for acquisitions without the need to raise capital.

☆ The US dollar will find it hard to maintain its strength: UOB
▼ + stars: | 2019-12-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe US dollar will find it hard to maintain its strength: UOBAs risk appetite recovers and as the Chinese yuan and British pound recover, it will be "tougher" for the U.S. dollar to remain strong, says Heng Koon How of United Overseas Bank.

Search resuls for: "United Overseas Bank"

25 mentions found