All 3 banks have already released their business update for the 3rd quarter, and for the first 9 months of FY2024 ended 30 September – starting with DBS (SGX: D05) last Thursday (07 November), followed by UOB (SGX: U11) and OCBC (SGX: O39) a day after (Friday, 08 November).
I have posted my reviews of their results as they were made available. If you have missed it, you can check them out via the respective links:
- DBS: Key Highlights from DBS’ Q3 and 9M FY2024 Business Update
- UOB: UOB’s Q3 and 9M FY2024 Business Update: What You Need to Know
- OCBC: What You Need to Know about OCBC’s Q3 and 9M FY2024 Business Update
To round up, it was a record breaking quarter for the 3 Singapore banks, where they have reported new highs for some of their business segments (and as a shareholder of all 3 of them, of course I’m happy about it). However, among them, which one had the best performance?
In this post, you will find a side-by-side comparison of each of the 3 banks’ key financial figures reported for the 3rd quarter, as well as for the first 9 months of FY2024, along with their 3 key financial ratios reported for the 3rd quarter to find out which one had the best performance this time round.
Additionally, I will also be putting the 3 banks’ valuations side-by-side to find out which one is currently the ‘cheapest’, as well as the ‘most expensive’.
Let’s get started…
Key Financial Figures (Q3 FY2023 vs Q3 FY2024)
I will be comparing the performance in terms of growth/decline for the 3 main business segments (i.e., their net interest income, net fee and commission income, and other non-interest income), as well as its net profit attributable to shareholders recorded for the 3rd quarter of FY2024 compared against the same time period last year:
Net Interest Income:
| DBS | UOB | OCBC | |
| Net Interest Income | Up +2.7% Q3 FY2023: S$3,504m Q3 FY2024: S$3,597m | Up +1.3% Q3 FY2023: S$2,429m Q3 FY2024: S$2,460m | Down -0.9% Q3 FY2023: S$2,456m Q3 FY2024: S$2,433m |
OCBC was the only bank to record a decline in net interest margin in the 3rd quarter. Among the other 2 banks, DBS showed a slightly stronger performance, with a 2.7% improvement compared to UOB’s 1.3% increase.
Net Fee & Commission Income:
| DBS | UOB | OCBC | |
| Net Fee & Commission Income | Up +31.6% Q3 FY2023: S$843m Q3 FY2024: S$1,109m | Up +6.6% Q3 FY2023: S$591m Q3 FY2024: S$630m | Up +10.2% Q3 FY2023: S$461m Q3 FY2024: S$508m |
All 3 banks saw a year-on-year increase in their net fee and commission income for the 3rd quarter. However, DBS’s 31.6% surge significantly outpaced the other 2 banks.
Other Non-Interest Income:
| DBS | UOB | OCBC | |
| Other Non- Interest Income | Up +23.9% Q3 FY2023: S$845m Q3 FY2024: S$1,047m | Up +70.6% Q3 FY2023: S$436m Q3 FY2024: S$744m | Up +68.2% Q3 FY2023: S$512m Q3 FY2024: S$861m |
All 3 banks experienced strong double-digit growth in their other non-interest income. It was a tight competition between UOB and OCBC, but UOB came out on top with a 70.6% increase, slightly ahead of OCBC’s 68.2% rise.
Net Profit Attributable to Shareholders:
| DBS | UOB | OCBC | |
| Net Profit Attributable to Shareholders | Up +16.7% Q3 FY2023: S$2,593m Q3 FY2024: S$3,027m | Up +16.5% Q3 FY2023: S$1,382m Q3 FY2024: S$1,610m | Up +9.1% Q3 FY2023: S$1,810m Q3 FY2024: S$1,974m |
All three banks experienced year-on-year growth in net profit attributable to shareholders for the 3rd quarter, with DBS and UOB achieving similar percentage increases. However, DBS led slightly with a 16.7% rise, just above UOB’s 16.5%.
Key Financial Figures (9M FY2023 vs 9M FY2024)
Similar to the previous section, I will also be comparing the improvements/declines reported by the 3 banks in terms of their net interest income, net fee and commission income, other non-interest income, as well as their net profit attributable to shareholders for the first 9 months of FY2024 compared to that recorded a year ago:
Net Interest Income:
| DBS | UOB | OCBC | |
| Net Interest Income | Up +4.8% 9M FY2023: S$10,208m 9M FY2024: S$10,696m | Down -0.7% 9M FY2023: S$7,275m 9M FY2024: S$7,223m | Up +1.6% 9M FY2023: S$7,183m 9M FY2024: S$7,300m |
UOB was the only bank to record a 0.7% year-on-year decline in net interest income for the first 9 months of FY2024. Among DBS and OCBC, DBS recorded a higher percentage increase of 4.8%, compared to OCBC’s 1.6% improvement.
Net Fee & Commission Income:
| DBS | UOB | OCBC | |
| Net Fee & Commission Income | Up +27.1% 9M FY2023: S$2,517m 9M FY2024: S$3,200m | Up +9.7% 9M FY2023: S$1,666m 9M FY2024: S$1,828m | Up +8.2% 9M FY2023: S$1,344m 9M FY2024: S$1,454m |
All three banks experienced year-on-year growth in their net fee and commission income; however, DBS’s 27.1% increase significantly outpaced the other two banks, which reported high single-digit gains.
Other Non-Interest Income:
| DBS | UOB | OCBC | |
| Other Non- Interest Income | Up +18.3% 9M FY2023: S$2,448m 9M FY2024: S$2,896m | Up +12.7% 9M FY2023: S$1,581m 9M FY2024: S$1,782m | Up +35.0% 9M FY2023: S$1,707m 9M FY2024: S$2,304m |
All three banks not only saw a year-on-year increase in their other non-interest income but also achieved a double-digit percentage jump. Among them, OCBC recorded the highest improvement at 35.0%.
Net Profit Attributable to Shareholders:
| DBS | UOB | OCBC | |
| Net Profit Attributable to Shareholders | Up +12.5% 9M FY2023: S$7,793m 9M FY2024: S$8,767m | Up +5.0% 9M FY2023: S$4,308m 9M FY2024: S$4,522m | Up +9.3% 9M FY2023: S$5,399m 9M FY2024: S$5,900m |
As shown above, all three banks experienced a year-on-year increase in net profit attributable to shareholders for the first nine months of FY2024. However, only DBS achieved a double-digit percentage growth at 12.5%, while OCBC saw an increase of 9.3% and UOB recorded a 5.0% improvement.
Key Financial Ratios (Q2 FY2024 vs Q3 FY2024)
Moving on, let us compare the 3 banks’ key financial ratios (i.e., their net interest margin, return on equity, and non-performing loans ratio) recorded for the 3rd quarter of FY2024, as well as their improvements/declines compared to the previous quarter (i.e., Q2 FY2024):
Net Interest Margin:
| DBS | UOB | OCBC | |
| Net Interest Margin | Down -0.03pp Q2 FY2024: 2.14% Q3 FY2024: 2.11% | No Change Q2 FY2024: 2.05% Q3 FY2024: 2.05% | Down -0.02pp Q2 FY2024: 2.20% Q3 FY2024: 2.18% |
UOB was the only bank to maintain a stable net interest margin at 2.05%, while the other two banks experienced slight declines. Among the three banks, OCBC recorded the highest net interest margin at 2.18%, followed by DBS at 2.11%, with UOB at 2.05%.
Return on Equity:
| DBS | UOB | OCBC | |
| Return on Equity | Down -0.1pp Q2 FY2024: 18.8% Q3 FY2024: 18.7% | Up +1.0pp Q2 FY2024: 13.3% Q3 FY2024: 14.3% | Down -0.1pp Q2 FY2024: 14.2% Q3 FY2024: 14.1% |
Of the three banks, UOB was the only one to achieve an increase in return on equity, rising by 1.0 percentage point to 14.3%.
However, DBS recorded the highest return on equity at 18.7%, followed by UOB at 14.3% and OCBC at 14.1%.
Non-Performing Loans Ratio:
| DBS | UOB | OCBC | |
| Non-Performing Loans Ratio | Down -0.1pp Q2 FY2024: 1.1% Q3 FY2024: 1.0% | No Change Q2 FY2024: 1.5% Q3 FY2024: 1.5% | No Change Q2 FY2024: 0.9% Q3 FY2024: 0.9% |
DBS was the only bank to see a slight improvement in its non-performing loans ratio, which decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 1.0%.
However, out of the three, OCBC maintained the lowest non-performing loans ratio at 0.9%.
Which Bank Had the Best Performance for Q3 & 9M FY2024?
DBS stands out as the clear leader this time, achieving the highest percentage growth in net interest income, net fee and commission income, and net profit attributable to shareholders for both the 3rd quarter and the first 9 months of FY2024, along with the highest return on equity at 18.7%.
OCBC takes a distant second place, showing the strongest improvement in other non-interest income for the first 9 months of FY2024. Additionally, it boasts the highest net interest margin at 2.18% and the lowest non-performing loans ratio at just 0.9%.
Which Bank is Currently the ‘Cheapest’ and ‘Most Expensive’?
The following table is a side-by-side comparison of the 3 Singapore banks’ valuations taken from Yahoo Finance (for its P/E and P/B ratios) as of market close last Friday (08 November 2024):
| DBS | UOB | OCBC | |
| Share Price | S$42.40 | S$35.69 | S$16.06 |
| P/E Ratio | 10.82 | 10.02 | 9.74 |
| P/B Ratio | 1.76 | 1.18 | 1.26 |
| Dividend Yield^^ | 4.53% | 4.76% | 5.11% |
Once again, DBS is the ‘most expensive’ of the 3 banks, as its P/E and P/B ratios are the highest. At the same time, its dividend yields is the lowest.
At the other end of the spectrum, OCBC is the ‘cheapest’, as its P/E ratio is the lowest among the 3, together with its dividend yield being the highest.
Closing Thoughts
In summary, DBS stands out with the strongest performance this time around, also emerging as the ‘most expensive’ based on its valuations.
That said, all 3 banks posted impressive results this time round, and here’s a quick recap:
DBS: Achieved record-high net fee and commission income for both the 3rd quarter and the first 9 months of FY2024, with treasury sales also reaching a new peak for the year to date, and third-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders exceeding S$3 billion for the first time.
UOB: Reported record highs in both net fee and commission income and trading income for the 3rd quarter.
OCBC: Saw new highs in net trading income and customer flow treasury income for the 3rd quarter, alongside record net interest income and net profit attributable to shareholders for the first 9 months of FY2024.
Looking ahead, with such robust performances, I am optimistic that all 3 banks are well-positioned to increase their final dividend payout when they announce their 4th quarter and full-year results in early-February 2025.
This brings me to the end of today’s analysis, where I compared the financial results and ratios of the 3 Singapore banks to highlight the top performer. I hope you found the content insightful. Please remember that all opinions shared here are solely my own, meant for educational purposes only, and should not be seen as buy or sell recommendations for any of the banks’ shares. As always, you are encouraged to conduct your own due diligence before making any investment decisions.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing, I am a shareholder of DBS, UOB, and OCBC.
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