(Reuters) - DBS Group Holdings, Southeast Asia's biggest bank. posted a 6 percent increase in core quarterly profit, missing expectations as it took higher provisions for bad debt charges.
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC.SI), Singapore's second-biggest bank, beat analysts forecasts by posting an 8 percent rise in quarterly profit helped by strong loan growth.
DBS, Southeast Asia's biggest bank, earned S$802 million ($633.3 million) excluding exceptionals in the three months ended December, compared to the S$843 million average forecast of six analysts polled by Reuters.
It earned S$760 million a year earlier. Including one-off items such as the sale of its stake in a lender in the Philippines, DBS posted a net profit of S$973 million.
OCBC reported a net profit of S$715 million in the three months ended December, compared to an average forecast of S$676 million by six analysts. OCBC earned S$663 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Singapore banks are facing a slowdown in mortgages in the wake of central bank's crackdown on the housing market, which has fueled strong loan growth for domestic banks since 2010.
OCBC Investment Research have downgraded their call on mainboard-listed City Developments Limited (CDL) to "hold" and slashed the fair value of the stock to S$9.59 from S$15.78 as the brokerage expects the property developer to be one of the worst hit among developers under its coverage.
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