DBS Group announced today (February 10) that it will pay a special one-time bonus of S$1,000 to all staff except senior managers as the bank reported record earnings for 2024.
A total of S$32 million has been set aside for this initiative.
The bank reported an 11% increase in net profit in 2024 to S$11.4 billion and a 10% rise in its fourth-quarter net profit, which rose from S$2.39 billion (2023) to S$2.62 billion.
DBS also expects its group net interest income in 2025 to marginally beat last year—its previous projection was for net interest income to remain around 2024 levels.
27% increase in dividend payouts
Reflecting the bank’s performance, DBS has declared a final dividend of 60 cents per share for Q4 2024, up six cents from the previous payout of 54 cents.
For the full year, the bank will pay out S$6.31 billion in dividends, marking a 27% increase compared to the previous year.
Additionally, it plans to introduce a new “capital return” dividend of 15 Singapore cents per share for each quarter in 2025 to manage the bank’s excess capital.
The bank also expects to continue returning similar amounts of capital over the next two years, either through this initiative or other methods.
Well-positioned to deliver healthy returns
Singaporean banks were forecast to post stronger profits for Q4 2024. However, analysts have said that local banks’ earnings could take a hit this year, with global economic growth threatened by US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs and other policies.
Despite these concerns, outgoing DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta remains confident in the bank’s future.
“While macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties persist, the franchise and digital transformations carried out over the past decade position us well to continue delivering healthy returns,” he said in a statement.
DBS was the first of the local banks to announce its earnings, marking the start of the earnings season for Singapore’s banks. UOB is scheduled to report its results on February 19, followed by OCBC on February 26.
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