Singapore bank DBS’ Q2 profit jumps 48%, beats forecasts

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore’s biggest bank DBS Group (OTC:) posted on Thursday a 48% surge in second-quarter net profit that beat expectations, as a stronger net interest income drove earnings.

DBS, which is also Southeast Asia’s largest lender by assets, said April-June net profit hit a quarterly record high S$2.69 billion ($2.69 billion) compared to S$1.82 billion a year earlier.

This exceeded the average estimate of S$2.41 billion from four analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.

DBS’ net interest margin, a key profitability gauge, rose to 2.16% during the quarter from 1.58% a year earlier.

It declared a dividend of 48 Singapore cents per share.

($1 = 1.3411 Singapore dollars)