The final earnings season of the year is wrapping up. All three local banks have reported solid sets of earnings as their business is buoyed by the current high interest rate environment. DBS Group (SGX: D05) reported a record total income of S$15.2 billion for the first nine months of 2023 (9M 2023) while United Overseas Bank (SGX: U11), or UOB, saw its total income for the same period jump 28% year on year to S$10.5 billion. Not to be outdone, OCBC Ltd (SGX: O39) total income climbed 24% year on year for 9M 2023 to S$10.2 billion. With these sets of robust results, investors may be wondering which bank offers the best value. We look at different aspects of all three banks to try to determine this.

Financials

Starting with financials, we see that DBS reported the highest year-on-year increase in total income among the trio for the quarter. Singapore’s largest bank enjoyed a 23% year-on-year rise in net...