OCBC joins DBS in S$100 billion market capitalisation club as shares hit record high

[SINGAPORE] A record share price for OCBC has sent the bank’s market capitalisation past the psychological S$100 billion mark, making it one of only two Singapore-listed companies to join the exclusive club.

Shares of the bank rose as much as 3.1 per cent on Wednesday, sending the counter to a peak of S$22.65 in the first few minutes of trading. By midday, OCBC shares pared some of the gains to be at S$22.41 – S$0.44 higher than Tuesday’s closing price.

Asia markets rose on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street gains, after US President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested an end to his country’s military campaign in Iran within weeks.

Locally, OCBC also made headlines on Tuesday by announcing a reduction in its 360 Account interest rates.

Against this backdrop, Macquarie’s head of Asean equity research, Jayden Vantarakis, named OCBC his top Singapore bank pick, ahead of UOB and DBS.

He noted that OCBC had the “best” fourth-quarter result in the 2025 financial year and that its shift in capital management gives a strong indication of a 60 per cent profit payout being maintained this year.

OCBC in February reported that its Q4 net profit rose 3 per cent to S$1.75 billion, up from S$1.69 billion in the year-ago period. In comparison, UOB’s fourth-quarter earnings declined 7 per cent to S$1.4 billion and DBS reported a 10 per cent drop in Q4 2025 net profit to S$2.26 billion.

“While all three banks should benefit from wealth inflows, there are risks around lower deployment into investments amid ‘risk off’,” Vantarakis said. He referred to a shift toward capital preservation where new wealth sits idle rather than being put into fee-bearing investments – a trend that is already evident in the strong Singapore dollar and lower Singapore Overnight Rate Average (Sora), he noted.

However, he cautioned that the current volatile geopolitical environment continues to cause macroeconomic upheaval.

OCBC maintains a “strong starting point” regarding the higher general allowances and non-performing asset coverage expected to be needed for rising bad loans, Vantarakis noted. This is an area where UOB has fallen behind, which helps explain why its share price has lagged behind OCBC’s record-breaking run, he added.