Singapore’s Corporate News

OCBC profit down 11% to S$926m for Q4; to pay out 23 Singapore cents/share

OCBC Bank posted an 11 per cent decline in net profit to S$926 million for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2018 from S$1.03 billion for the year-ago period. The group said results were dragged down by a fall in earnings contribution from Great Eastern Holdings (GEH), OCBC’s insurance arm. The bank has proposed a final dividend of 23 Singapore cents per share, up from 19 Singapore cents a year ago. The estimated total dividend payout will amount to S$1.82 billion, representing a dividend payout ratio of 40 per cent of the group’s core net profit in fiscal 2018 (Source: The Business Times)

Singapore Banks Flag Risks After Disappointing Earnings Season

After being stung by the market turmoil at the end of last year, Singapore’s banks are bracing for fresh challenges from ChinaU.S. trade tensions and a slowing world economy. “We expect ongoing global uncertainties to continue to weigh on business sentiment in the near term,” United Overseas Bank Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Wee Ee Cheong told reporters Friday in Singapore after fourth-quarter results missed estimates. OverseaChinese Banking Corp. CEO Samuel Tsien said loan growth will slow this year and he predicted more choppiness in Asian markets as geopolitical risks put a strain on the global economy. (Source: Bloomberg).

Indonesia’s Corporate News

UPDATE 1-Indonesia c.bank aims for more lending while holding key rate

Indonesia’s central bank kept interest rates on hold on Thursday and said it was looking at ways to boost loan growth, but indicated it was in no hurry to start rolling back last year’s six benchmark hikes. Bank Indonesia (BI) left the 7-day reverse repurchase rate at 6.00 percent - its level since November - as predicted by all 25 economists surveyed by Reuters. It raised interest rates by 175 basis points last year to combat capital outflows that sent the rupiah to its lowest since 1998. One cause of outflows was the Federal Reserve’s four increases in U.S. rates. (Source: Reuters)

In brief: Indonesian telco, state banks merge payments to challenge Go-Jek, Ovo

Four Indonesian state-owned banks and the country’s biggest telecommunications company are merging their mobile payment services to challenge Go-Jek and Ovo, the two dominant players in Indonesia’s rapidly growing digital payments market. The new platform, called LinkAja, will let users make cashless payments through QR codes, top-up balances via convenience stores and ATMs, and pay bills, without requiring a bank account. It is slated to start in March. (Source: Tech in Asia)

Thailand’s Corporate News

Thai vehicle sales rise 17% in January

Thailand's new vehicle market has started 2019 on the front foot, with sales rising by 17.3% in January to 78,061 units from 66,545 units in the same month last year, according to data compiled by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). The continuing market growth reflects buoyant economic activity in the country, with GDP growth at 3.7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2018 from a revised 3.2% in the third quarter - driven by strong private consumption and investment growth. Full-year GDP growth averaged 4.1% in 2018, slightly better than the 4.0% recorded in 2017. (Source: Just Auto)

Thai banks on track to offer mobile account opening with facial recognition next quarte

Thai banks are on pace to be able to offer account opening through mobile banking apps in the next quarter with facial recognition after the ten participants in a Bank of Thailand test exit the regulatory sandbox, the Bangkok Post reports. The bank and non-bank institutions testing facial recognition for electronic know your customer (eKYC) checks must prove the technology is accurate, consistently available, and secure from hacks and fraud, and the central bank is overseeing rules for data security, privacy, and safe e-signature processes, its Assistant Governer Siritida Panomwon Na Ayudhya told the Post. (Source: Biometric Update.com)

Source: Kenanga Research - 25 Feb 2019