Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC), Singapore’s second-largest lender, has reported record quarterly profits due to higher net interest margins, joining its rival DBS Group in flagging a peak in interest rates. Helen Wong, the CEO of OCBC Group, said that the bank believed interest rates had peaked and will stabilize.
OCBC’s net profit for the January-March quarter increased by 39% to S$1.88bn ($1.4bn), beating analysts’ expectations. The bank’s total net interest margin rose to 2.30% in Q1, up from 1.55% a year earlier. The lender forecast that full-year net interest margins would edge up to 2.2%.
The CEO noted that OCBC’s wealth management business continued to attract net new money inflows, and the bank was starting to see growth in cross-border flows after China’s reopening.
