The investment banking and wealth management firm has issued a forecast of what it thinks will happen to the large domestic banks in Singapore as a result of the impact of COVID-19. All three had a strong financial year in 2019.

Singapore-based banks such as DBS, UOB and OCBC could take a revenue hit of between 14 and 18 per cent this year in the wake of latest COVID-19 measures to help consumers, according to Jeffries Research yesterday (source: Straits Times, 1 April). 

Assuming that  the bank's entire mortgage and personal loan book is available for interest deferment or lower rates, Jefferies' analyst Krishna Guha sees a 14 and 16 per cent hit on revenue for DBS and OCBC respectively on a worst-case scenario basis, and an 18 per cent impact on revenue for UOB, the report said.
 
Singapore is widely regarded by the media as having handled the coronavirus outbreak relatively well, although its importance as an international hub means that problems in other countries will inevitably affect the Asian city-state’s business. 

The Monetary Authority of Singapore this week unveiled ways for financial institutions to let distressed property owners and small and medium-sized enterprises defer debt repayments or payments on insurance policies.

Yesterday, the regulator pointed out that as part of the package of relief measures announced by MAS on 31 March, banks have already undertaken to defer principal payments on secured loans to SMEs until the end of the year, subject to assessment of the quality of the security. 

In a report released a few weeks ago, Singapore Exchange pointed out how wealth management firms had played a central role in driving profits for the three main domestic Singapore banks.