UOB's deputy chairman and CEO Wee Ee Cheong has bought 100,000 shares on Feb 22, the day the bank reported its FY2023. In a filing to the stock exchange, the bank says that Wee paid $28.495 each for the shares, bringing his direct stake in the bank to 3.38 million shares, equivalent to 0.202%.
In addition, he holds a deemed stake of 173.7 million shares, equivalent to 10.38%, giving him a total interest of 10.588%.
This time last year, when the bank reported its FY2022, Wee paid $29.5749 each for 100,000 shares.
On Feb 22, UOB shares dropped around 2.7% despite record earnings reported for FY2023, as they focus on the bank's NIM guidance for the current year is likely to be 2 to 2.02%, versus 2.02% achieved for FY2023.
Also, the bank maintained its final dividend at the same level as 85 cents paid for the first half.
In a nutshell, the bank attracted more deposits than needed to lend out at a level of profitability that could be achieved in a rising interest rates environment.
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“We are a triple-A-rated bank. Customers are depositing too much money while loans are not growing. The credit growth outlook remains soft for the first half of this year, but we will continue to focus on quality clients,” Wee says at the results briefing on Feb 22.
Throughout FY2023, the bank's net interest margin (NIM) has dipped gradually, in line with what the industry as a whole experienced.
In 4QFY2023, NIM was at 2.02%, down 7 basis points (bps) q-o-q. NIM pressure caused net interest income (NII) to fall 1% q–o-q and 6% y-o-y to $2.4 billion in 4QFY2023, for the three months to Dec 31, 2023.
