OCBC misses Q4 expectations as bad debt allowances double

Quarterly profit up 11% at S$791m; allowances for loans jump to S$154m from S$68m

Published Wed, Feb 11, 2015 · 09:50 PM

Singapore

WITH a doubled provision for bad debts in the fourth quarter, the latest financial results of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) played a similar tune to that of its competitor DBS in signalling caution over souring loans.

This comes even as OCBC - like DBS - noted no systemic weakness in loans linked to the commodities and the oil-and-gas sectors, which have been bruised by falling prices.

OCBC on Wednesday reported an 11 per cent lift in net profit for the fourth quarter that missed expectations of analysts polled by both Reuters and Bloomberg. Shares of OCBC - which announced results before trading - closed unchanged at S$10.60.

Net profit for the three months ended Dec 31, 2014, stood at S$791 million, up from S$715 million the same period a year ago. This is below average forecasts of S$862 million and S$…