Singapore banks brace themselves for tough months ahead

Singapore

SINGAPORE banks posted lower earnings in the first quarter after bulking up their provisions to cushion against economic stresses brought on by the virus outbreak, and against some of their oil-and-gas exposure.

Q1 is likely just a small glimpse of the pain to come, with banks likely to see flattish growth at best for the rest of the year and having to take further impairments down the line. Their reported return on equity (ROE) also fell under 10 per cent. DBS's ROE stood at 9.2 per cent, that of OCBC was 6 per cent, and UOB's ROE was 8.8 per cent.