OCBC : O39 0%’s net profit for its first quarter rose 39 per cent to S$1.9 billion, buoyed by strong net interest income growth.

This was compared with S$1.4 billion for the year-ago period; the earnings also beat the S$1.6 billion consensus forecast in a Bloomberg survey of five analysts.

At the bank’s earnings briefing on Wednesday (May 10), OCBC group chief executive Helen Wong noted that the record results came despite global volatility.