DBS was Euromoney’s best bank in the world this year, principally for turning the pandemic crisis to its advantage better than any other bank did.
As the pandemic eases, as travel begins to return to its home base of Singapore and moratoria are gradually eased in other key markets such as India and Indonesia, it becomes easier to see how the bank is emerging.
In credit terms, very well.
Chief executive Piyush Gupta never expected problems among the bank’s bigger customers, but needed clarity on the small and medium-sized enterprise and consumer books when government support unwound.
“The short story is that I think the worst is behind us and I’m not expecting any cliffs,” he says. “I do think that, like everybody, we’re over-reserved. Net-net this year we will show almost zero cost of credit. My outlook for next year looks pretty similar.”
Non-performing assets declined 1% through the third quarter as new NPA formation was more than offset by repayments; nine-month net profit, up 46% to S$5.41
