Brokers' take

OCBC Bank | Buy (maintained) Sept 5 close: S$10.77 Target price: S$14.48 UOB Kay Hian, Sept 5

We see higher probability of OCBC Bank emphasising its north-bound expansion to increase its 20 per cent stake in Bank of Ningbo (BON), which has a market capitalisation of S$25.6 billion, as and when allowed to do so by the authorities in China.

It will also deploy capital to support expansion to double profit before tax from China's Greater Bay Area (GBA) to S$1 billion by 2023.

Speculation has surfaced that OCBC is mulling an acquisition of 89.2 per cent stake in Bank Permata from Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and Astra International. Both shareholders have equal stake of 44.6 per ce…