OCBC signals caution as it pays lower dividend than peers

Singapore

OCBC has defended its decision to keep more capital than some analysts would like, as the bank frets over an impending downcycle.

This comes as the bank posted on Friday an 11 per cent fall in net profit for its fourth quarter. Net profit for the three months ended Dec 31, 2018 stood at S$926 million, down from S$1.03 billion for the year-ago period, impacted by mark-to-market losses stomached by Great Eastern. This translated to annualised earnings per share of 85 Singapore cents, down from 96 Singapore cents a year ago.