UOB profit drops 22% to $328 million

Provisions for bad loans almost trebled USD$310 million as chairman Wee Ee Hong said he was more upbeat.

Net profit for the three months ended June was 470 million Singapore dollars (328 million US), down from 601 million dollars a year ago, the bank said in a statement, as reported by AFP.

However, the figures were better than market expectations of an average net profit of 421 million dollars, according to a Dow Jones Newswires poll of seven analysts.

The bank set aside 467 million dollars for impairment charges during the June quarter, up from the 183 million dollars put away last year.

UOB said it made the bigger provision "in view of the unstable global economic conditions."