Focus falls on banks' trade finance, fund costs

GROWTH in China-related trade finance loans and concerns over funding costs were focal points for analysts looking at the three banks' earnings which were released last Friday.

For full-year 2013, the banks - DBS, OCBC and UOB - reported a combined net profit of $9.45 billion, down from $10.6 billion in 2012, though the previous year included $1.65 billion in one-off gains. Banks have guided for softer loan growth this year amid flat margin growth.

DBS core net profit in Q4 rose 6 per cent from a year ago to $802 million, on the back of a 10 per cent gain in total income. But including one-off items, DBS's Q4 net income fell 20 per cent year on year to $973 million.