Money managers smell a bargain as debt panic hits Singapore banks

Singapore

THE recent drubbing in Singapore bank stocks is turning South-east Asia's biggest lenders into bargains for money managers including Aberdeen Asset Management Plc.

DBS Group Holdings Ltd lost S$3.6 billion in market value in seven days from July 28 when its client Swiber Holdings Ltd signalled that it was in financial trouble. DBS's two smaller domestic rivals slid at least 5 per cent. With bank stocks priced near their cheapest since the depths of the global financial crisis, Nader Naeimi of AMP Capital Investors Ltd says it's time to buy, while Aberdeen's Hugh Young says they'll prove resilient to any debt exposure.