Hot stock: DBS shares open lower on Tuesday

SHARES of DBS opened 15 Singapore cents lower at S$19.3 on Tuesday from Monday's closing price of S$19.45.

They traded at a high of S$19.45 in the early morning before falling by 0.154 per cent or three Singapore cents to trade at S$19.42 at about 9.29am.

About 1.24 million shares changed hands.

DBS on Tuesday posted a fourth-quarter net profit of S$838 million (excluding one-time items), up 4 per cent from the previous year's S$802 million. Including one-time items, Q4 net profit fell by 14 per cent from S$973 million a year ago.

While the group notched up record full-year earnings of S$3.85 billion (excluding one-off items), it missed analysts' estimates due to higher bad debt provisions and lower trading income. Bad debt provisions rose 40 per cent to S$211 million, while trading income dropped 44 per cent with the bank attributing it to "less favourable trading conditions".