The higher interest rate environment may be causing pain for more businesses, but it has been a boon for the three local banks. Early last week, DBS Group (SGX: D05) reported a record set of earnings and also declared a special dividend of S$0.50. Just yesterday, United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11), or UOB, also delivered a stunning set of results along with an increase in its final dividend. OCBC Ltd (SGX: O39) has now followed suit. Singapore’s second-largest bank has turned in a sterling report card for 2022 and also hiked its final dividend by 43% compared to a year ago. Here are five highlights from the lender that investors should be interested in. Higher operating and net profit For 2022, OCBC’s net interest income (NII) surged by 31% year on year to S$7.7 billion. The better performance was attributed to a sharp rise in the bank’s net interest margin (NIM) along with a year-on-year increase in its loan book....