OCBC's Q3 net profit falls 59% in absence of divestment gains

Singapore

OVERSEA-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) posted a 59 per cent fall in third-quarter net profit to $759 million, from $1.85 billion a year earlier which included a divestment gain of $1.126 billion.

Excluding the non-core gains last year from the divestment of stakes in Fraser and Neave and Asia Pacific Breweries, the core net profit of $759 million was actually 5 per cent higher than the year-ago quarter's core earnings of $724 million. It also beat the $658 million average of eight estimates in a Bloomberg survey.