DBS to give junior staff $1,000 special bonus; nearly 6,800 in S’pore to benefit
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The payouts are expected to total $18 million, Singapore’s largest bank by assets said.
PHOTO: BT FILE
SINGAPORE - DBS Bank on Feb 9 announced that it will be paying a special one-time bonus of $1,000 to junior employees, as Singapore’s largest bank by assets reported resilient earnings for 2025.
Over 23,000 employees across the bank’s global footprint, including nearly 6,800 employees in Singapore, will benefit from this initiative.
The payouts are expected to total $18 million, DBS said.
DBS chief executive Tan Su Shan said in a Feb 9 statement: “In spite of a difficult environment, DBS delivered a resilient set of results and we wanted to specially recognise the contributions of our junior staff.”
Fourth-quarter earnings were $2.26 billion, down 10 per cent from $2.52 billion a year ago, mainly because of a lower net interest margin (NIM).
NIM narrowed 22 basis points to 1.93 per cent due to lower interest rates and a stronger Singdollar.
Net profit for 2025 fell 3 per cent to $10.9 billion due to higher tax expenses from the implementation of the 15 per cent global minimum tax rate.
Full-year profit before tax amounted to $13.1 billion, up 1 per cent from a year ago, as total income rose 3 per cent to $22.9 billion despite a challenging rate environment.
During a results briefing on Feb 9, Ms Tan said the bank mitigated against headwinds through nimble balance sheet management, increasing fixed-rate assets to $210 billion, and strong deposit growth.
DBS had previously paid out a similar supplement of $1,000 to junior-ranked employees in 2024, amounting to $15 million. It also rewarded all staff, excluding senior managers, with a special one-time bonus of $1,000 each in February 2025.
The bank said it plans to continue paying capital return dividends of 15 cents a share per quarter for the financial years of 2026 and 2027, barring unforeseen circumstances.
DBS proposed a total dividend of 81 cents for the fourth quarter, consisting of a final ordinary dividend of 66 cents and a capital return dividend of 15 cents per share. This brings the total dividend for 2025 to $3.06 per share, up 38 per cent from the previous year.
Shares of DBS closed 1.87 per cent lower at $58.19 on Feb 9.
