Q: The results of Singapore banks are always closely watched. What are some of the key takeaways from the results? Rising interest rates impact. Singapore banks benefited from rising interest rates and reported an increase in net interest margin (NIM) and higher profits in 2Q22. OCBC saw the sharpest improvement in NIM with a 16 basis point (bp) improvement compared to the previous quarter, while UOB’s NIM grew the least with a 9 bp increase. What also caught our attention was that DBS shared its NIM had already exceeded 1.80% in July, rising further from 1.58% in 2Q22, and expressed confidence that NIM could reach 2.00% between 3Q22 and 4Q22. Asset quality in focus. Investors are expressing growing concerns about a deterioration in asset quality for Singapore banks, after UOB reported an increase in non-performing loans (NPLs) to 1.7% in 2Q22 from 1.5% in 2Q21. UOB management explained that this...