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DBS basks in rates glow

Andy Mukherjee Published on Mon, Apr 30, 2018 / 4:11 PM GMT+8

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SINGAPORE (Apr 30): For a lender with a strong deposit-taking franchise, nothing is more pleasing than when interest rates start climbing.

Just ask Piyush Gupta. The CEO of DBS Group Holdings, Singaporeans’ default bank for parking cash, is basking in the warm glow of higher rates.

A 9-basis-point expansion in net interest margin from a year earlier drove return on equity in the first quarter to 13%, the highest in a decade. Yes, funding costs on deposits rose by 15 basis points, results released on Monday show. But the yield on almost every lending opportunity – trade finance, other customer loans, or just placing funds with another lender – firmed up even more.