Following DBS, which have released its business update for the 3rd quarter and for the first 9 months of the financial year 2024 ended 30 September yesterday morning (you can check out my review about it here), United Overseas Bank Limited (SGX: U11), or UOB for short, is the next Singapore-listed bank to release its business update early this morning (08 November).

The Singapore headquartered bank needs no further introduction, where you can find its banking branches and ATMs scattered across many locations in the country. Apart from its home country, it also has business operations in Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America – however, its focus is in ASEAN.

In this post, you will find my review of UOB's key financial figures and ratios:

Key Financial Figures (Q3 FY2023 vs. Q3 FY2024, and 9M FY2023 and 9M FY2024)

In this section, you will find my review of UOB's key financial figures reported for the 3rd quarter, as well as for the first 9 months of the financial year, compared against the respective periods a year ago:

Q3 FY2023 vs. Q3 FY2024:

My Observations: On the whole, it was a rather resilient set of results reported by UOB – with net interest income and net fee & commission income recording a single-digit percentage improvement, while its other non-interest income recording a high double-digit percentage improvement.

Net interest income was up by 1.3% year on year to S$2,460 million from a healthy loan growth of 5%.

Net fee & commission income saw a 6.6% year on year growth to a record high level of S$630 million, led by strong wealth fees recovery.

The 70.6% year-on-year jump in its other non-interest income to S$744 million can be attributed to a record high trading and investment income.

Total expenses went up by 12.3% year on year to S$1,610 million from investment in franchise growth.

9M FY2023 vs. 9M FY2024:

My Observations: Apart from a slight 0.7% year-on-year dip in its net interest income, which can be attributed to a lower net interest margin (which declined from 2.12% in 9M FY2023 to 2.04% in 9M FY2024), but cushioned by loan growth of 5%, the growth in its net fee & commission income, as well as other non-interest income remained stable.

Particularly, the 9.7% year-on-year improvement in its net fee & commission income to S$1,828 million was driven by wealth, loan-related, and credit card fees, while the 12.7% year-on-year increase in its other non-interest income to S$1,782 million was due to a strong customer-related treasury income from increased bond sales and hedging demands, along with robust performing from trading and liquidity management activities.

Total expenses increased by 4.9% year on year to $4,516 million, as the bank continued to invest in building regional capabilities, while maintaining cost discipline.

Key Financial Ratios (Q2 FY2024 vs. Q3 FY2024)

Moving on, let us take a look at UOB's 3 key financial ratios (its net interest margin, return on equity, and non-performing loans ratio) reported for the 3rd quarter of FY2024 ended 30 September, compared against that reported in the previous quarter (i.e., for the 2nd quarter of FY2024 ended 30 June) to find out if it has continued to remain resilient:

My Observations: Net interest margin remained stable at 2.05%, as loan margin widened on proactive deposit cost management.

Non-performing loans ratio also remained the same as the previous quarter, at 1.5%.

One positive to note here is the 1.0pp improvement in its return on equity to 14.3%.

CEO Mr Wee Ee Cheong's Comments and Outlook (from the Bank's Press Release)

"The Group achieved a strong quarter with record net profit, driven by broad-based growth across all business segments and our key markets in ASEAN. Backed by our strong balance sheet and core franchise, we are well-positioned to maintain the momentum of revenue growth.

Amid a volatile global economy, Southeast Asia stands out as a bright spot. We are confident of ASEAN's long-term potential, bolstered by strong economic fundamentals and a surge in foreign direct investment inflows with shifting supply chains. Our strength in connectivity, coupled with strong tailwinds, has propelled growth in our wholesale banking business.

Our successful integration of the Citigroup portfolio in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia marks a significant milestone. Our cross-sell synergies from the expanded portfolio are delivering promising results, and we are committed to intensifying our efforts to build capabilities in our key ASEAN markets. We are primed to seize emerging opportunities and drive further growth."

Closing Thoughts

Overall, it was a pretty decent set of results reported by UOB – particularly for the 3rd quarter of FY2024 compared against last year, as its net fee and commission income, as well as its trading and investment income hit record highs.

For the first 9 months of FY2024, other than a slight 0.7% year-on-year dip in its net interest income as a result of a lower net interest margin, its net fee and commission income, as well as its other non-interest income saw stable growth.

As far as its financial ratios are concerned, compared to the previous quarter (i.e., Q2 FY2024 ended 30 June), they are more or less the same, apart from a 1.0pp improvement in its return on equity to 14.3%.

Finally, in case you are wondering about dividend payouts, UOB has a half-yearly dividend payout policy (once when it releases its results for the 1st half of the year, and another when it releases its results for the 2nd half of the year). Hence, there aren't any dividend payouts declared this time round.

With that, I have come to the end of my review of UOB's latest business update for the 3rd quarter, as well as for the first 9-months of the financial year ended 30 September 2024.

As always, I hope you have found the review useful. At the same time, do take note that all the opinions expressed in this post are purely for educational purposes only, and they do not constitute any buy or sell calls for the bank's shares. You are strongly advised to do your own due diligence before you make any investment decisions.

Related Documents

• 3rd Quarter Performance Highlights
• CEO’s Presentation Slides
• CFO’s Presentation Slides

Disclaimer: At the time of writing, I am a shareholder of United Overseas Bank Limited.

The post UOB's Q3 and 9M FY2024 Business Update: What You Need to Know first appeared on The Singaporean Investor.