The bank reported expenses of $1.96bn for the fourth quarter (Q4) 2022, a 17% increase compared to $1.67bn, and a profit before tax of $2.7bn, a 70% rise compared to $1.58bn for the for the same period in 2021

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Marina Bay Financial Centre, Singapore. (Credit: Nicolas Lannuzel/Wikipedia)

Singapore-based DBS Bank has reported net profit of $2.34bn or $3.58 per share for the quarter ended 31 December 2022, a 68% rise compared to $1.39bn or $2.11 per share for the respective quarter in 2021.

The bank reported expenses of $1.96bn for the fourth quarter (Q4) 2022, a 17% increase compared to $1.67bn for the same period previous year.

The company reported profit before tax of $2.7bn for Q4 2022, a 70% rise compared to $1.58bn for the corresponding quarter in 2021.

The bank’s cost/income ratio for the reported period was 42.8, which increased compared to 51.4 for the respective quarter previous year.

DBS CEO Piyush Gupta said: “The record return on equity of 17% for the fourth quarter and 15% for the full year reflect the benefit of higher interest rates as well as significant structural gains from our decade-long transformation initiatives.

“The Commercial book total income growth of 21% for the full year and 43% for the fourth quarter attest to the strength of our franchise.

“Our business pipelines are healthy and asset quality robust. We expect confidence to return to markets in the coming year as interest rate increases ease and China reopens.

“The substantial increase in our ordinary dividend and the special dividend to a total of 92 cents per share reflect our robust earnings profile and the strength of our capital position. This brings the total payout for the financial full year to SGD 2.00 per share.”

DBS’ Commercial Book business reported a total income of $4.38bn for Q4 2022, a 43% rise compared to $3.05bn for the respective quarter in 2021.

The bank’s Treasury Markets reported total income of $204m for Q4 2022, a 6% increase compared to $193m for the same quarter previous year.

In a separate development, DBS announced that its exposure to India’s Adani group of companies is tightly managed.

DBS, and other banks collectively provided Adani with $10.5bn financing, to support the acquisition of Holcim’s cement business in India last year.

The Singaporean bank offered about $751m financing to Adani, which has been in the focus since the release of US-based short-seller Hindenburg’s report.

Hindenburg report accused the Indian conglomerate of stock manipulation and improper use of offshore tax havens. T

Piyush Gupta told reporters: “They’re solid, cash-generating companies, so we’re not concerned about the exposure. The cement industry has huge potential, given the growth in the market and so that exposure is quite tightly managed.”