One of the "big three" Singapore-based banks, which provides services including wealth management, chalked up strong results for the first quarter of this year.

Net profit in the first quarter of this year surged 26 per cent year-on-year to S$1.52 billion ($1.14 billion) at Singapore-headquartered DBS, it said today, while its consumer banking/banking wealth management income rose 17 per cent to S$1.36 billion.

The banking group, which has like its peer Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, parent of Bank of Singapore, has pushed into European markets, said its total income for Q1 stood at $3.36 billion, a gain of 16 per cent on the same period a year ago.

The results saw DBS’ cost-income ratio tighten to 42 per cent, DBS said in a statement. Return on equity was 13 per cent, the highest in a decade.

At around 2:30pm local time in Singapore, shares in DBS were up more than 3 per cent from the open.

Commenting on its wealth and consumer banking figures, DBS said the increase in income was across all product segments and led by investment products and deposits.

“With interest rates and allowance charges reverting to more normalised levels, and our capital base streamlined with the finalisation of regulatory requirements, the structural profitability of our franchise has been more clearly demonstrated with this quarter’s results,” DBS chief executive, Piyush Gupta, said.

“While we are keeping a watchful eye on how geopolitical trade tensions play out, the region’s economic fundamentals remain sound. Our pipeline is healthy and we expect to continue capturing business opportunities and delivering shareholder returns in the coming year,” he added.

DBS last year acquired a UK securities licence. The move was seen as an endorsement of London despite - or even because of - the UK vote in June 2016 to leave the European Union. The UK is home to a significant Asia expat population, so such banks have an opportunity to engage with this client base.