DBS Group - Phillip Securities 2019-04-30: Record Earnings & ROE

DBS GROUP HOLDINGS LTD (SGX:D05)

DBS Group - Record Earnings & ROE

DBS GROUP HOLDINGS LTD (SGX:D05)'s 1Q19 Revenue and PATMI were in line with our estimates (excluding write-back). ROE rose to 14.0%, the highest in a decade.
1Q19 NIM expanded 5 bps y-o-y and 1 bps q-o-q to 1.88% due to higher interest rates in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Loans grew 5.7% y-o-y, driven by non-trade corporate loans.
Allowances declined 53.7% y-o-y due to a write-back of S$100mn and improvements in the credit environment.
Dividend payment frequency has been changed to four times a year. 1Q19’s proposed dividend of 30 cents per share consistent with FY18 full year pay-out S$1.20 per share.

Downgrade to ACCUMULATE at an unchanged target price of S$29.00. Our rating has been downgraded to ACCUMULATE due to DBS share price performance.

NIM expansion was boosted by higher interest rates in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Fixed deposits grew 16.7% y-o-y, faster than CASA deposits which contracted 2.2% y-o-y. It resulted in a rise of 44 bps y-o-y (4Q18: 46 bps y-o-y) in the cost of deposits, faster than assets yield which rose 48 bps y-o-y (4Q18: 59 bps).
Around 40-45% of the loans book reprices almost immediately, with the remaining fixed rate loans to be repriced over time in the next two to three years. Hence there is a lag effect from the rise in interest rates on the loan book.
We expect a couple more quarters of margin expansion. By blending in the effects of rising cost of funds and the lagged effect of loan repricing, guidance was maintained at 5bps above FY18’s average NIM of 1.85%. We pen in our estimate for FY19e NIM at 1.91%.

With the stabilisation of interest rates and receding trade war fears, DBS adjusted its ECL model accordingly on a monthly basis. The exceptionally high ROE of 14% is unusual due to trading gains and general provision write-back.

An aggregated fall of 12.4% from investment banking, brokerage and wealth management fees was partially offset by a 12.0% rise in card, transaction and loan-related fees. The fall in fees was attributable to a more positive sensitive in capital markets a year ago.
Other non-interest income rose on higher trading income from gains in interest rates and credit activities, as well as higher gains from investment securities. It offset the one-off property gain of S$84mn in 1Q18.
Excluding the one-off property gain, other non-interest income grew 27.1% y-o-y.

The decelerating mortgage loan growth is due to property cooling measures and high-interest rates. DBS’s market share of Singapore housing loan remained unchanged at 31%. However, overall loans growth remained stable at mid-single digit of 5.7% y-o-y, led by regional broad-based non-trade corporate loans (+11% y-o-y).
We believe that the slowdown in mortgage loans will persist. Hence we tone down our FY19e loans growth estimates from 6.0% to 5.4% y-o-y.

Dividend payment frequency has been changed to four times a year instead of two. 1Q19 proposed dividend of 30 cents per share, consistent with FY18 full year pay-out of S$1.20 per share. DBS remains committed to increasing dividends on a sustainable basis.
Quarterly dividend payments provide shareholders with more regular income stream as well as some consistency in DBS’ Capital Adequacy Ratio.

Our rating has been downgraded to Accumulate due to DBS share price performance.
Despite the softer expectation of loans growth due to market headwinds, we expect a couple more quarters of NIM expansion due to loan repricing. Looking forward, asset quality is expected to be stable, and greater cost efficiencies will provide upside to earnings.
DBS remains attractive with FY19e dividend yield of 4.2%.

Tin Min Ying Phillip Securities Research | https://www.stocksbnb.com/ 2019-04-30

SGX Stock Analyst Report ACCUMULATE DOWNGRADE BUY 29.000 SAME 29.000