UOB delivered almost flat 1Q15 net earnings of S$801m, up 1.6% YoY and 1.9% QoQ, and just a slight shade below market expectations of S$805m based on a Bloomberg poll. In comparison, DBS posted 1Q net earnings of S$1133m (excluding one-off) and OCBC delivered 1Q earnings of S$993m. Net Interest Income rose 8.3% YoY and 2.8% QoQ to S$1201m. Net Interest Margin (NIM) improved from 1.73% in 1Q14 and 1.69% in 4Q14 to 1.76% in 1Q15 – the highest among the three banks for this quarter.

Non-interest Income was strong at S$755m, up 17.5% YoY and 10.7% QoQ. On a QoQ basis, the improvements came from Wealth and Credit Cards, but were offset by other units. Allowances increased marginally by 1.8% QoQ to S$169m.  We will provide more details after the analyst briefing. Our rating prior to the 1Q results was a HOLD, and we will review our estimates following the conference call.

Source: OCBC Research - 30 Apr 2015