SINGAPORE – OCBC reported on Nov 6 that its net profit for the third quarter rose 3% from a year earlier to $2.04 billion, boosting its bottom line for the first nine months of 2026 to a record high.
The earnings came in slightly above the $2 billion consensus forecast in a Bloomberg survey of seven analysts.
In the third quarter, banking operations profit rose 8% to a record $1.90 billion, supported by loan growth, continued momentum in customer flow trading income and resilient fees.
Net interest income for the quarter rose 2% to $2.31 billion, lifted by loan growth and improved yields, despite higher funding costs.
The lender said the underlying business of its insurance arm under Great Eastern Holdings remained resilient.
Its insurance subsidiary Great Eastern reported a 72 per cent year-on-year fall in third-quarter net profit to $102.9 million on Nov 2, weighed down by weaker investment valuations and a one-off loss from the partial divestment of its Indonesian subsidiary.
OCBC’s net profit for the quarter was 8% below the record level in the second quarter of 2026, mainly due to weaker investment performance in insurance and shareholders’ funds.
For the second quarter ended June 30, OCBC reported earnings of $2.22 billion, up 22% from $1.82 billion a year earlier.
Net profit for the first nine months of 2026 rose 10% from a year earlier to $6.24 billion, driven by broad-based growth across wealth management, wholesale banking and insurance.
For the first nine months, wealth management fees rose 25% to a record $1.33 billion and non-interest income from wholesale banking grew 24%.
