Total assets under management rose 14 per cent last year to S$1.68 billion. If the ANZ assets are added to the figure, it takes the total to S$189 billion, figures showed.

The bank, one of the “big three” domestic lenders headquartered in the Asian city-state, logged a group level net profit of S$4.24 billion, 2 per cent down from 2015, as stronger operating performance was offset by higher allowances. Total income rose 6 per cent year-on-year to hit a record of S$11.5 billion, the bank said in in a statement. 

As previously reported, DBS’s sale of its equity interest in DBS China Square in Singapore, the main asset of which is the PwC building in that city, will produce gains of S$350 million. That figure will be recorded in results for the first quarter of this year.

The bank, which said it has made digital technology a central feature of its business strategy, said work to digitalise the bank together with cost management initiatives have borne fruit with faster productivity in 2016, enabling costs to be contained at S$4.97 billion, little changed from levels in 2015. Underlying headcount fell 1 per cent.

To see the article about DBS's acquisition last year of the ANZ wealth and retail operations in Asia, see here. 

(This article was originally published here yesterday.)