UOB's net profit down 5.7 pct in second quarter

The Singapore-based bank United Overseas Bank (UOB) said Friday that it recorded a net profit of 762 million Singapore dollars (1 Singapore dollars equals to 0.73 U.S. dollar) for the second quarter of 2015, an decrease of 5.7 percent from a year ago.

The decline was due to lower treasury and investment income, the bank said.

The group's net interest income rose 7.9 percent from a year ago to 1.21 billion Singapore dollars in the second quarter on higher loan growth, while net interest margin increased 6 basis points to 1.77 percent, contributed mainly by higher loan yields as the loan portfolio re-priced on SIBOR increases.

Fee and commission income grew 13.4 percent to 465 million Singapore dollars in the second quarter with double-digit growth registered in wealth management, credit cards and fund management income. Trading and investment income was lower at 156 million Singapore dollars, while total expenses increased 11.4 percent from a year ago to 877 million Singapore dollars, due to higher staff costs and IT-related expenses to support franchise growth.

For the first half, the group reported a net profit after tax of 1.56 billion Singapore dollars, 2.1 percent marginally lower than a year ago due to higher write-back of prior years' tax rovisions in the first half of 2014. Endi