OCBC shares close 3.3% up after hitting all-time high on Q2 earnings; UOB down 2.7%

[SINGAPORE] Shares of UOB and OCBC diverged after the local banks’ second-quarter earnings release. UOB fell as much as 2.7 per cent, while OCBC rose as much as 4 per cent, hitting an all-time of S$30.50, on Friday (Aug 7).

Shares of UOB later pared some losses, closing 0.6 per cent down at S$43.30, after about 6.5 million securities valued at S$281.2 million were transacted.

Meanwhile, OCBC shares eased slightly from their high, closing 3.3 per cent up at S$30.30, with 12 million shares worth S$362 million having changed hands.

This comes after the two banks’ Q2 earnings beat forecasts, with OCBC’s operating profit increasing 20 per cent year on year to S$2.6 billion, on strong contributions from its wealth management and insurance segments.

UOB’s operating profit was up 2 per cent year on year at S$2 billion for Q2, but its operating profit for the first half of the year fell 4 per cent on the year to S$3.9 billion.

UOB’s net profit for Q2 rose 10 per cent to S$1.48 billion, compared with S$1.34 billion for the year-ago period.

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Meanwhile, OCBC’s net profit for the period was up 22 per cent at S$2.22 billion, from S$1.82 billion previously.