DBS quarter profit slide 23% to 5-year low as oil and gas provisions soar

Net fee income rose 12% from a year ago, led by double-digit growth in wealth management and investment banking fees

Singapore's DBS Group Holdings booked an unexpected slide in quarterly profit, which fell 23 per cent to hit a five-year low as the bank nearly doubled provisions for loans to the troubled oil and gas industry.

But Southeast Asia's biggest lender also indicated that the worst was probably over, saying this quarter's 87 per cent hike in net provisions to a record S$815 million ($597 million) would mean further provisions for the sector were unlikely.

Singapore banks, long lauded for their conservative lending practices, have been tested over the last two years as a number of local offshore and marine firms have