OCBC first-quarter profit rises 14 percent, driven by wealth management business

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd reported a nearly 14 percent rise in quarterly profit, largely led by sustained growth in its wealth management business and robust results from insurance operations.

The city-state's second-biggest lender said net profit came in at S$973 million ($692 million) in the three months ended March 31 versus S$856 million a year ago. Net interest margin however contracted 13 basis points to 1.62 percent.

"We achieved broad-based loan growth, grew our private banking assets under management (AUM), and reported significantly higher fee income," CEO Samuel Tsien said in a statement on Tuesday.

The bank said the overall quality of its loan portfolio remained stable and although the stress in the oil & gas support services sector continued, sufficient provisions had been made.

 

OCBC is the last Singapore bank to report results after DBS beat market estimates and United Overseas Bank posted an increase in quarterly profit.

($1 = 1.4056 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Stephen Coates)