DBS sees non-performing assets picking up in 2021; Q3 profit exceeds expectations

Hit by lower net interest income, net profit falls 20% to S$1.3 billion, above market estimates of S$1.17 billion

Published Thu, Nov 5, 2020 · 09:50 PM

Singapore

DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta said that the bank is seeing "some episodic corporate stress" in its portfolio, with non-performing asset (NPA) formation to pick up as government relief moratoriums expire in 2021.

In its third quarter results briefing, he told the media that there seems to be "no pattern" to the rise in new corporate NPAs in the third quarter, with no specific country or industry dominating.

These NPAs come from a handful of clients, ranging from consumer goods companies in China to a state-owned enterprise in Indonesia, but with no one big item compared with Q1, said Mr Gupta.

DBS' new NPAs under the co…