By Reuters Staff
(Recasts with comments and sector performance)
SINGAPORE, Feb 25 (Reuters) - United Overseas Bank Ltd reported a 32% fall in quarterly profit as Singapore’s smallest listed bank said its net interest income declined and credit losses swelled.
Just like its larger peers OCBC and DBS, UOB said on Thursday it expects credit costs to ease this year as government moratorium programmes launched at the start of the pandemic come to an end.
UOB CEO Wee Ee Cheong said the bank would rebalance its business to focus on wealth management services, with net interest margins expected to stay low.
United Overseas Bank Fourth-Quarter Net Fell 32% morningstar.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from morningstar.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lockdown Will Take Toll on Malaysia’s Already Steep Yield Curve
Bloomberg 1/22/2021 Marcus Wong
(Bloomberg) Malaysia’s yield curve has raced higher over the past year and is now near the steepest since 2017. The return to a strict lockdown and delays to vaccine distribution mean it may have further to run.
The spread between the nation’s three-year and 10-year sovereign debt climbed above 90 basis points last week, up from just 16 basis points before the coronavirus selloff in March. The tighter lockdown announced Jan. 11 and the imposition of a state of emergency the following day, are likely to intensify concern that Malaysia will fall short of its growth and fiscal consolidation targets this year, pushing up longer-term yields.
Three years ago, it was touted as a development that would rejuvenate Singapore’s central business district. But an upcoming building in the city-state could have fallen victim to the pandemic, which has upended the office market as work from home remains a long-term arrangement for some companies.
SINGAPORE (Jan 19): Three years ago, it was touted as a development that would rejuvenate Singapore’s central business district. But an upcoming building in the city-state could have fallen victim to the pandemic, which has upended the office market as work from home remains a long-term arrangement for some companies. CapitaSpring, a 51-floor integrated development with JPMorgan Chase & Co as an anchor tenant, has only managed to secure about 38% out of 647,000 square feet (62,600 square meters) of net lettable area. That’s low considering it’s 75% completed. Typically at that stage in pre-pandemic times, buildings would have leased out more than half of their space, three analysts said.