OCBC Shares Find New Peak After 3Q Earnings Beat

By Megan Cheah

Shares of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. raced to a record intraday high after the bank's third-quarter earnings beat expectations.

The stock rose as much as 4.4% to a high of S$17.94 on Friday morning, before paring its gains to be 2.85% higher.

The bank's third quarter net profit was 1.98 billion Singapore dollars, equivalent to US$1.52 billion, edging up from S$1.97 billion in the same period a year ago, Singapore's second-largest lender said Friday.

Profit was supported by record noninterest income and lower allowances, said OCBC. Its wealth management business' assets under management also hit a fresh high of S$336 billion.

The lender expects noninterest income--which includes wealth management, trading and insurance--to continue to be a key earnings driver as interest rates come down.

OCBC revised its estimated net interest margin for 2025 to around 1.90%, from a previous range of 1.90% to 1.95%, to account for softer rates. It didn't disclose its 2026 financial targets.

"You cannot rely on high interest rates to generate a wider margin," said Helen Wong, OCBC's group chief executive, in a media briefing.

Growing assets and deposits, and managing funding costs are therefore important in defending the bank's net-interest income, she added. While the fourth quarter is likely a "quieter time" for wealth, she expects the momentum in noninterest income to have laid a "good foundation" for next year.

OCBC's results come after fellow Singapore lenders DBS Group and United Overseas Bank posted lower third-quarter net profits. DBS Group's earnings beat market estimates, while UOB posted a sharp profit decline as it booked pre-emptive general allowances.

OCBC's earnings were solid and beat consensus estimates, said Citi analyst Tan Yong Hong in a note, citing robust wealth management and deposits growth ahead of its peers.

He believes investors who were disappointed in local peer United Overseas Bank's results could rotate into OCBC instead.

Write to Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 06, 2025 23:44 ET (04:44 GMT)