DBS to give special S$1,000 bonus to each staff after record 2024 performance

DBS Group announced that it will pay a special one-time bonus of S$1,000 to all staff, except senior managers.

A total of S$32 million was set aside for the one-time S$1,000 bonus.

Singapore's largest bank announced a record performance in 2024, with net profit rising 11 per cent to S$11.4 billion, and a 10 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, matching expectations.

Good performance

The bank also said it now expected group net interest income in 2025 to marginally beat last year.

Its previous projection was for net interest income to remain around 2024 levels.

Southeast Asia's largest bank's return on equity of 18 per cent was also highlighted in its press release.

"While macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties persist, the franchise and digital transformations carried out over the past decade position us well to continue delivering healthy returns," DBS chief executive officer Piyush Gupta said in the statement.

DBS said October to December net profit rose to S$2.62 billion from S$2.39 billion a year earlier.

DBS's net interest margin rose to 2.15 per cent during the quarter.

It is an increase from 2.13 per cent the same quarter a year earlier.

Net interest margin is a key profitability gauge.

DBS also said its total income grew 10 per cent to S$22.3 billion, while its cost-income ratio remained at 40 per cent.

Dividend

DBS announced a final dividend of S$0.60 per share.

It was S$0.54 the same quarter a year ago.

This brings the ordinary dividend for the financial full year to S$2.22, with a total of S$6.31 billion set aside, which marked an increase of 27 per cent from 2023.

The board also announced that it planned to introduce a capital return dividend of S$0.15 per share per quarter to be paid out over the financial year 2025.

It also expects to pay out a similar amount over the subsequent two years, through this or other mechanisms, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Handing over

News of the strong performance comes as Gupta prepares to hand over the reins to Tan Su Shan in March 2025.

Gupta has been DBS's CEO since 2009.

He said in the latest release that investor sentiment had improved and that improvement had driven wealth management fees and treasury customer sales to “new heights”.

DBS’s fee income grew beyond S$4 billion for the first time as treasury customer sales “reached a new high” and market trading income rebounded.

As he prepares to hand over to Tan, he said he felt “good” about the bank’s position, while expressing confidence that the incoming CEO would allow it to “reach further heights” under her leadership.

DBS also announced that S$100 million from 2024’s budget was set aside for the bank’s corporate social responsibility initiatives.

This was part of its commitment to spend S$1 billion over 10 years to support vulnerable communities.

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