Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd. (O39.SG), Singapore's second largest bank by assets, said Friday its first quarter net profit climbed 32%, beating market expectations, on the back of stronger loan growth as well as improved performance from its life insurance subsidiary.
Net profit for the three months ended March 31 was a record S$832 million compared with S$628 million in the same quarter of 2011, OCBC said in a statement. The bank's earnings were much higher than the average forecast of S$612 million by five analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires. Full story
