Each DBS employee to receive S$1,000 for SG50

DBS Group Holdings will give S$1,000 to each employee to celebrate SG50 and also for reaching S$50 billion in market capitalisation.

The S$1,000 ang pow was announced on Tuesday after the bank released its full-year 2014 results.

For 2014, net profit - including one-time items - rose to a record S$4.05 billion, up 10 per cent from FY2013 and double that in 2009. Excluding one-time items, net profit rose 10 per cent to S$3.85 billion.

South-east Asia's largest bank will give S$18 million or S$1,000 to each of its 18,000 employees, said DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta on Wednesday.

Those who will get the ang pow will be vice-presidents and below, he said. In Singapore, some 10,000 staff will get the money. DBS has in total 21,000 staff.

When they heard the news, some "employees fell off their chair", said Mr Gupta at a press conference to update on the bank's S$100 million SG50 programme.

The bank is also setting aside S$10 million to support a range of customers and communities, he said.

Last month, it relaunched the POSB National School Savings Campaign - to encourage primary school pupils to cultivate the habit of saving. The iconic POSB Saving Stamps Programme launched in 1969 was hugely popular in the 1970s and 1980s and at its peak had 100 per cent schools participation.

The schools have already run out of stamps and have called us for more, said Mr Gupta.

Later this year, DBS will spend S$3.5 million on linking up the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games with its annual dragon boat and sailing races.

Last year, DBS set up a S$50 million foundation to make a positive impact on communities in the region.

The foundation aims to spark social innovation by encouraging the development of groundbreaking social initiatives. By supporting social entrepreneurship, the foundation focuses on building a more inclusive society so that those at society's margins can enjoy productive and rewarding lives.

For instance, one of its beneficiaries - Better Barista - employs youth and women at risks.

Last year, DBS also made a S$25 million donation to the soon to open National Gallery Singapore.