It declares an interim dividend of S$0.54 per share

 

DBS&rsquo net profit for the third quarter ended September 2024 rose 17 per cent year on year to S$3.03 billion &ndash crossing the S$3 billion mark for the first time &ndash from S$2.59 billion the year before.

 

Its latest quarter&rsquo s results beat the S$2.76 billion consensus forecast among four analysts polled by Bloomberg.

 

On Thursday (Nov 7), Singapore&rsquo s largest lender declared an interim dividend of S$0.54 for each ordinary share, resulting in estimated total dividends payable of S$1.54 billion.

 

The Q3 interim dividend will be paid out on or about Nov 25.

 

Earnings per share (EPS) stood at S$4.21 versus S$3.64 in the year before.

 

On the commercial book level, total income stood 8 per cent higher at S$5.42 billion while net interest income rose 3 per cent to S$3.8 billion.

 

Net fee and commission income rose 32 per cent to S$1.11 billion, while other non-interest income grew 4 per cent on the year to S$517 million. Both increases were attributed to higher contributions from wealth management.

 

The group said net interest margin (NIM) on its commercial book remained stable at 2.83 per cent. On the group level, NIM stood at 2.11 per cent, down slightly from 2.19 per cent from Q3 FY2023.

 

Its cost-income ratio stood at 39.1 per cent versus 39.3 per cent in Q3 FY2023, while profit before allowances rose 11 per cent year on year to S$3.5 billion.

 

Non-performing loans ratio fell to 1 per cent versus 1.2 per cent in the same period a year ago, with specific allowances at 14 basis points of loans for the third quarter.

 

Markets trading income grew 99 per cent on the year to its highest level in 10 quarters at S$331 million, driven by foreign exchange, interest rates and equity derivatives.

 

Expenses rose 10 per cent to S$2.25 billion, of which the group noted that Citi Taiwan accounted for three percentage points of the increase from S$2.04 billion previously.

 

Share buyback programme

Additionally, DBS&rsquo board has established a new S$3 billion share buyback programme where the bank&rsquo s shares will be purchased in the open market and cancelled.

 

The programme marks the first time that repurchased shares will be cancelled. Buybacks under it will be carried out at the management&rsquo s discretion, subject to market conditions.

 

Based on the bank&rsquo s balance sheet as at September 2024, it is estimated to reduce the fully phased-in CET-1 ratio by around 0.8 percentage point when completed.

 

DBS said the programme comes as part of its board&rsquo s capital management initiatives, and is expected to provide a &ldquo permanent lift&rdquo to EPS in addition to higher ROE.

 

&ldquo The buyback programme expands our toolkit for capital management. The considerable amount of capital we have returned in recent years has been a distinguishing hallmark that remains well supported by our financial strength,&rdquo said deputy chief executive Tan Su Shan.

 

Tan is due to succeed chief Piyush Gupta when he retires at the next annual general meeting on Mar 28, 2025. 

 

She also said: &ldquo I am committed to continuing with this approach when I take over from Piyush.&rdquo