The total value of Singapore's top 100 brands has soared over the past year but some of the big guns have had a rocky 12 months, according to a report yesterday.

It noted that the top 100 are valued at around US$41 billion (S$56 billion), up US$1.57 billion from last year.

But five of the top 10 brands - Singapore Airlines (SIA), Wilmar International, Great Eastern Holdings, Keppel Corporation and Sembcorp Industries - slumped in value by a combined US$1.3 billion.

The results were collated by taking into account a company's brand strength, business performance and external factors such as currency conversion.

For the first time, banks occupied the top three rankings, with DBS, OCBC and UOB increasing by over US$1.76 billion in combined brand value, said Brand Finance Asia Pacific, which compiles the annual ranking.

Brand Finance Asia Pacific is the regional arm of Brand Finance, an independent, London-based brand strategy, valuation and marketing consultancy.

The three banks' growth is in line with the general upward trend of financial brands globally.

DBS, which was named the most valuable brand for the fourth consecutive year, also became the first local firm to achieve over US$5 billion in value. It also increased the brand value gap between itself and runner-up OCBC by US$2 billion.

Ms Karen Ngui, DBS' head of group strategic marketing and communications, said the award was a testament to the bank's efforts at reimagining banking. "What's more, with the digital revolution, we have also been more disruptivein the manner in which we have entrenched the brand," she said.

Recently listed property firm Frasers Centrepoint, which was included for the first time in the nine years the ranking has been compiled, was ninth with a brand value of just over US$1 billion. It displaced Sembcorp, which fell to tenth.

UOB achieved the best ranking improvement among the top 10, climbing from fifth last year to third.

The rise of OCBC and UOB pushed SIA and agribusiness group Wilmar down the rankings. But SIA still remains the strongest Singapore brand.

Brand Finance Asia Pacific managing director Samir Dixit said at the company's annual forum yesterday: "Though the financial service sector is not a leading category for brand value dominance, Singapore has defied this trend, indicating both the importance of the banking sector in the region as well as the lack of concentrated brand building efforts by other brands."

Mr Dixit noted that there are "worrying" signs of falling brand strength and value of several in the top 20, which indicates potential revenue pressures "in the next three to five years".