Singapore's UOB eyes North Asian opportunities as wealth gains jump Reuters
Written by Yantoultra Ngui
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore bank United Overseas Bank (OTC:) (UOB) reported a 40% rise in wealth management revenue in the second quarter and said it is looking at opportunities in North Asia such as China and Hong Kong to strengthen the business. .
Like other banks in Singapore, UOB has benefited from strong inflows of wealth into Asia due to the country's political stability, low taxes and policies that favor family offices and trusts.
Earlier this year, the city's third-largest bank said it planned to double its private wealth assets under management over the next few years.
UOB's wealth funds in the April-June quarter jumped to S$173 million ($130 million), while assets under management rose 10% to S$182 billion.
But the bank's net interest – the difference between the money borrowed and paid by the bank – fell to 2.04% in the first half of this year from 2.13% in the same period last year.
That limited net profit, as UOB reported a 1% rise to S$1.43 billion in the quarter, in line with estimates.
The bank maintained its 2024 forecast of low single-digit percentage growth in loans, double-digit expense growth and positive net income growth.
Bank shares were little changed on Thursday.
Rival Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) will report earnings on Friday while DBS will report on Aug. 7.
($1 = 1.3355 Singapore dollars)
