With worst behind, DBS gets ready for what comes next, normalcy or not

DBS's Tier 1 common equity capital is both robust at about 14% of risk-weighted assets, and not a lot lower from pre-pandemic levels

Singapore’s largest bank has history and geography both aligned in its favor. Its strategy is nimble, balance sheet healthy, and the lending landscape as promising as last year’s was gloomy. With a little luck, DBS Group Holdings Ltd. will exude strength when it meets upcoming virtual challengers.

The lender’s fourth-quarter results don’t really give a glimpse of what to expect. Net income fell 33 per cent from a year earlier to S$1.01 billion ($762 million), missing the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg News poll. Credit costs stayed elevated at S$577 million, broadly unchanged from the previous three months. With this,