UOB’s stellar financial performance in 2022 is down to years of work behind the scenes: and the investment by the bank under its chief executive, Wee Ee Cheong, over the past five years to bolster its franchise.
The result is a 20% jump in core operating profit, year on year, to S$6.6 billion ($5 billion) last year as the business fired on all cylinders. Group wholesale banking income rose 23%; group retail income rose 16%; net interest income jumped 31%; and trading and investment income increased 6%.
The bank’s non-performing loan ratio was steady at 1.6%, while its liquidity coverage ratio and net stable funding ratio were both above the minimum regulatory requirements.
Diversification has been a big focus at UOB. Within wholesale banking, for example, half the revenue comes from markets outside Singapore. The bank’s corporate portfolio now comprises 50% large corporates and roughly 30% small and mid-cap corporations. That proportion has shifted over the past couple of years because the Covid pandemic took a greater toll on the growth of SMEs.
The bank has made good progress in achieving its ambition to drive growth in Asean, especially with its decision in January 2022 to buy Citi’s consumer banking businesses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The