News

Big banks are now adapting to the current digital trends.

Most bankers are confident in results in the next three years.

And Wells Fargo’s consumer complaints dropped in 2017.

Productivity in all three banks has improved in 3Q17.

All three banks registered absolute growth in 9M17.

This may also be the case in 2018 despite better economic growth.

Some countries have already started negotiating to meet the deadline.

Local banks keep zeroing in on consumer lending to spur growth.

The forecast rose from 7.5% as lending to private companies grew.

They will continue to struggle in early 2018 as it dips by 1% QoQ.

It compensated for the sluggish 3.9% industry loan growth.

And Britain's Competition and Markets Authority extends deadline for open banking implementation.

Their portfolios are becoming more global.

Growth will be moderate despite the increase in loans.

It has the lowest staff cost per employee at US$61,800 (S$83,333). UOB Kay Hian reports OCBC leads in cost efficiency with the lowest staff cost per employee and ‘very lean’ non-wage expenses. This is against US$89,600 (S$120,830) for DBS and US$64,900 (S$87,620) for UOB. However, DBS’ staff cost per employee grew at a slightly slower CAGR at 3.6% for 2013-17, vs 4.8% for OCBC and 4.9% for UOB. Staff cost accounted for 61.6% of operating expenses for OCBC despite its lower staff costs per employee, vs 56% for DBS and 55.3% for UOB in September 2017. DBS also leads in productivity with the highest income per employee at US$399,500 (S$538,805) as of 3Q17 (annualised), significantly above the US$239,800 (S$323,465) for OCBC and US$267,900 (S$361,289). This is mainly due to its established presence in Singapore and Hong Kong with market shares, which are major financial centres, estimated at 20.6% and 4.2% respectively. According to UOB Kay Hian, OCBC and UOB's income per employee grew at a faster CAGR at 4.7% and 5.6% respectively for 2013-17, vs 2.1% for DBS. OCBC’s income per employee stayed flat in 2015 and 2016, possibly held back by the integration of Wing Hang Bank, but had improved 11% ytd in 9M17. UOB’s income per employee has grown steadily at CAGR of 5.6% for 2013-17. DBS has the highest PPoP per employee at US$232,600 (S$313,701), vs US$135,400 (S$182,703) for OCBC and US$151,500 (S$204,284) for UOB. OCBC and UOB registered faster growth with PPoP per employee expanding at CAGR of 4.4% and 4.9% respectively for 2013-17, vs 2.1% for DBS. DBS has the smallest workforce at 23,114, whilst OCBC had the largest headcount of 29,161 as of September 2017. UOB has kept headcount relatively unchanged as it maintains an ASEAN-centric footprint and did not partake in any major M&As.  

It's a steep decline from the 13.4% profit growth in 2017.