DBS Bank
In the decade since DBS’s Taiwan subsidiary was established, the Singaporean bank’s franchise in the market has gone from strength to strength. Last year, the bank reported NT$11.7 billion ($393 million) in revenue, 2% higher year on year, with net profit after and before tax both rising 10% annually.
DBS first showed how serious it was about its Taiwan ambitions in 2016, when it announced plans to buy the wealth management and retail banking business of ANZ in Taiwan (and in four other markets). It completed the deal and the migration of operations in early 2018.
In 2019, it injected NT$2.25 billion in additional capital into DBS Taiwan. Fast forward to early 2022, and DBS said it would buy US bank Citi’s Taiwan consumer banking franchise.
The acquisition, says Lim Him Chuan, general manager and chief executive for DBS in Taiwan, will make DBS Bank the largest international bank in the island overnight. The deal is set to be completed in the third quarter of this year.
It will add another S$700 million ($504 million) to the top line revenue of DBS Taiwan (which is currently about S$500 million) and boost its bottom line, or profit, by S$250 million, from S$150 million.