DBS Q4 profit soars 67% to $347 mn

Singapore-based DBS Group today said its profit rose by 67 per cent to 493 million Singapore dollars ($347 million) for the three-month period ending December 31, 2009 fuelled by higher fee income, growing loan volumes and stable expenses.

In the year-ago period, the company had a net profit of 295 million Singapore dollars, DBS Group said in a statement.

Total income rose by 7 per cent from the year-ago period to 1.57 billion Singapore dollars in the fourth quarter of 2009 on higher loan volumes and fee income with stable expenses.

"We were able to take advantage of the global financial shakeup to gain market share in areas such as equity and debt fund raising, lending and trade finance," DBS CEO Piyush Gupta said.

DBS stepped up efforts to grow loans in its core markets. DBS's share of Singapore-dollar loans grew for a second consecutive year to 20 per cent while its share of loans in Hong Kong went up to 5.6 per cent.

Net fee income grew 9 per cent to 1.39 billion Singapore dollars due to higher investment banking, loan-related and trade finance fees.

In terms of geographical location, the company said it is making progress in its growth markets.

"Our India franchise has grown rapidly, resulting in doubling of revenues in India since 2007," Gupta added.