DBS gains $26 billion in market value, widening its lead over local rival OCBC
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A 21 per cent advance in shares of Singapore’s largest bank DBS in 2025 has boosted its market capitalisation by about $26 billion.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
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SINGAPORE - DBS Group Holdings’ blistering share rally in 2025 has widened its market value lead over its local peers to record levels.
A 21 per cent advance in shares of Singapore’s largest bank in 2025 has boosted its market capitalisation by about $26 billion, taking its gap over the second-largest lender OCBC Bank to $75 billion. Its lead over UOB has also expanded to the widest ever.
DBS shares edged higher in a sixth straight day of gains on Oct 3, closing at $52.86 for a market cap of some $150 billion.
Analysts are mostly bullish on DBS’ dividend and wealth management outlook.
DBS is more efficiently run versus its peers and has more of a focus to reward shareholders, said Mr Tareck Horchani, head of prime brokerage dealing at Maybank Securities in Singapore. “As importantly, in segments such as wealth management, transaction banking, cash management and AI deployment, they have scale and dominate the verticals versus their competitors. This should keep their valuation premium.”
In the latest reporting season, DBS beat earnings estimates as strong lending income, trading gains and record-high assets under management offset the drag from lower interest rates. The bank is also deepening its wealth strategy, leveraging Singapore’s push to ease family office rules.
The lender is set to report results early in November.
Among the three listed banks in Singapore that include UOB, DBS enjoys the most amount of buy ratings from stock analysts, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. The stock also has the highest estimated dividend yield among its peers, at just shy of 6 per cent.
JPMorgan Chase in September raised its recommendation on DBS to overweight from neutral, saying the dividend outlook can lead to a long-term re-rating.
Since the start of the third quarter, analysts have revised up earnings estimates for DBS by about 2 per cent. In comparison, its peers UOB and OCBC saw a drop of 3.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively. BLOOMBERG
