Singapore's UOB looking at North Asia opportunities as wealth earnings jump

By Yantoultra Ngui

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOB) reported a 40% surge in wealth management income during the second quarter and said it was looking at opportunities in North Asia such as in China and Hong Kong to bolster the business.

Like other Singaporean banks, UOB has benefited from strong inflows of wealth into Asia due to the country's political stability, low taxes and policies favourable towards family offices and trusts.

Earlier this year, the city-state's third-largest bank said it is planning to double private wealth assets under management over the next couple of years.

UOB's wealth fees during the April-June quarter jumped to S$173 million ($130 million), while assets under management climbed 10% to S$182 billion.

But the bank's net interest margin - the difference between what a bank earns on loans and pays out for deposits - declined to 2.04% in the first half of this year from 2.13% in the same period a year earlier.

That limited gains in net profit, with UOB reporting a 1% rise to S$1.43 billion for the quarter, in line with estimates.

The bank maintained its 2024 projections for low single-digit percentage growth in loans, double-digit fee growth and positive growth in total income.

Shares in the bank were little changed on Thursday.

Rival Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) will report earnings on Friday while DBS will report on Aug. 7.

($1 = 1.3355 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)