SINGAPORE: Singapore's biggest bank DBS Group reported on Thursday first-quarter results that trumped expectations with broad-based growth and said it expects net profit to exceed last year's record result.

Citing robust business momentum as loans grew and both fee income and treasury customer sales reached new highs, net profit jumped 15% from the same period a year earlier to S$2.96 billion ($2.2 billion), compared with market expectations for a 3.5% decline.

Shares in DBS climbed 3% in morning trade.

Guidance that net profit would grow this year was more upbeat than in the previous quarter when DBS said only that it expected this year's net interest income to be around 2023 levels. Last year, DBS reported record profit of S$10.3 billion.

"While geopolitical tensions persist, macroeconomic conditions remain resilient and our franchise is well positioned to capture business opportunities," DBS Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta said in a statement.

"We are optimistic that total income and earnings will be better than previously guided and we will be able to deliver another year of strong shareholder returns," he added.

Singapore has benefited from strong inflows of wealth from Asia, including China, as well as Europe and the Americas, drawn in by the city-state's political stability in recent years.

The quarterly results showed return on equity hit a record high of 19.4%, up from 18.6% a year ago. Net interest margin, a key profitability gauge, edged up to 2.14% from 2.12% a year earlier.

The bank pumped up its first-quarter dividend, giving 54 Singapore cents per share compared with 42 cents in the same quarter last year.

DBS is also projecting total income growth to be 1 to 2 percentage points above previous guidance of "mid-single-digits" according to slides accompanying the results.

"DBS' results have delivered a positive surprise, with earnings coming in way above estimates which helped to soothe initial concerns that earnings momentum may slow ahead," Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG, said in a note to clients.

"Asset quality remains healthy and investors can look forward to higher dividends. It is hard to find fault with the recent set of numbers," he said.

On Tuesday, Singapore's central bank ended DBS's six-month pause from acquiring new businesses or making non-essential IT changes after DBS addressed problems related to repeated and prolonged disruptions to its digital banking services last year.

Singapore rivals United Overseas Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation report results next week.

 - Reuters