The Singapore-headquartered lender said that wealth management, along with other business elements, helped propel its results.

Singapore-headquartered DBS Group said yesterday that it had logged a record S$3.44 billion ($2.65 billion) first-quarter profit for 2025, rising slightly on a year earlier.

The bank took general allowances of S$205 million to bolster reserves given macroeconomic turmoil, it said in a statement. Net profit fell 2 per cent at S$42.90 billion, caused by higher tax costs because of the impact of a new global minimum income tax of 15 per cent. 

Total income rose 6 per cent to S$45.91 billion from balance sheet growth, record fee income and treasury customer sales were driven by wealth management, as well as the strongest markets trading income in 12 quarters. 

DBS said its cost-income ratio held stable at 37 per cent. 

“We had a strong start to the year with broad-based business growth led by wealth management, and ROE above 17 per cent despite the impact of the global minimum tax,” DBS chief executive, Tan Su Shan (pictured below) said.

Tan Su Shan

“Recent escalations in trade tensions have heightened macroeconomic risks and market volatility. As uncertainty persists, we will stay nimble to capture opportunities while prudently managing risks,” Tan added.