DBS Group Holdings Ltd

Second-quarter net profit rose 9% year on year to a record $3.08 billion, with return on equity of 17.9% and return on tangible equity of 19.6%. Total income increased 6% to over $6 billion, led by fee income of $1.46 billion, commercial book other non-interest income of $681 million, and markets trading income of $469 million; group net interest income declined 2% to $3.58 billion. Expenses rose 3% to $2.35 billion, the cost-to-income ratio was 39%, and total allowances fell 15% to $113 million. For the first half, net profit rose 5% to $6.01 billion and total income increased 3% to $12.0 billion. Guidance: management said 2026 total income should exceed last year’s level, deposit growth should be in the high single digit, they expect SORA to stay around 1.2 for the rest of the year, they are not expecting U.S. rate hikes this year, commercial book non-interest income growth was raised to mid-teens, and they want cost-to-income ratio in the low 40s while keeping specific provisions within the 17 to 20 basis point range.

Tan Su Shan said the quarter showed record fees across the franchise and a broad-based improvement rather than strength in just one business. She emphasized that DBS is building a long-term wealth platform through what she called the “wealth continuum” and “connectivity,” with growth supported by digitalization, data, democratization, and domestication. Her tone was confident and strategic, repeatedly framing DBS’s growth in wealth, institutional banking, trade, payments, and AI as structural rather than cyclical.

Chng Sok Hui focused on the record financial performance and the improving mix of earnings. She highlighted Q2 fee income up 25% to $1.46 billion, customer-driven non-interest income up 27% to $2.14 billion, wealth AUM at a record $516 billion, and gross loans at $475 billion, up 3% sequentially in constant currency. She also pointed to disciplined costs, with expenses up 3% to $2.35 billion and cost-to-income at 39%, alongside strong liquidity metrics of 142% LCR and 113% NSFR, CET1 of 16.6% transitional and 14.6% fully phased in, and dividend payout of $0.81 per share.

Analysts pressed management on whether AI is already lifting revenue per RM and whether DBS can put a firm dollar value on AI benefits; management said the impact is real but hard to isolate because it shows up across productivity, fees, and costs, and they declined to give a 2026 AI dollar target. Questions also focused on whether rising fee income and treasury sales are cyclical or durable, and management said the franchise is being broadened through new-to-bank and cross-sell activity, with AI helping idea generation and customer nudges. On China’s offshore trust tax rules and bank M&A, management said the China rules are still not conclusive and DBS will keep playing by the rules and building onshore wealth, while any M&A would have to fit strategy, be operationally manageable, and be priced right.