DBS CEO signals bank may be past worst of energy-loan issues

SINGAPORE (Feb 16): DBS Group Holdings chief executive officer signaled that the Singaporean bank may be past the worst of its problems from loans to troubled oil and gas-services companies.

While the sector is “still challenged,” the formation of new nonperforming assets and bad-loan charges for the industry are expected to be “significantly lower this year,” Piyush Gupta told reporters after his bank’s fourth-quarter earnings release.

The comments contrast with the gloomier outlook for energy services offered by Gupta’s counterpart at rival Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. on Tuesday, which caused Singaporean bank shares to slump and sent DBS to its biggest slide since August 2015.

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