UOB's net profit up 5.4% to US$578m in Q1

And NPL was stable at 1.5%.

UOB Group reported net earnings of S$807m (US$578m) for the first quarter of 2017 (“1Q17”), 5.4% higher than a year ago. Total income rose 7.8% to S$2.12b (US$1.5b), led by growth in core income. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2016 (“4Q16”), net earnings increased 9.3%, contributed by higher net interest income and trading income.

Asset quality remained sound. The non-performing loans (“NPL”) ratio was stable at 1.5% as compared with the previous quarter, while NPL coverage stayed high at 118%.

The Group’s capital and funding positions continue to be robust. Gross loans increased 9.4% year-on-year to S$229b (US$164b) while deposits were 1.9% higher at S$260b (US$186b) as at 31 March 2017. The loan-to-deposit ratio remained healthy at 86.7%. Fully-loaded Common Equity Tier 1 Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) rose to 12.8%.

The Group registered net earnings of S$807m (US$578m), 5.4% higher than a year ago.

Net interest income grew 2.3% to S$1.30b (US$931m), largely driven by broad-based loan growth. Net interest margin decreased 5 basis points to 1.73%.

Non-interest income increased 18.0% to S$819m (US$586m) in 1Q17. Fees and commission income rose 17.5% to S$508m (US$363m), driven by higher fund management and wealth management income. Trading and investment income also registered an increase of 20.5% to S$243m (US$174m) due to higher trading income.