DBS to give staff $1,000 special bonus, introduce capital return dividend
DBS announced record earnings for FY2024, along with a special one-time bonus of $1,000 for staff.
PHOTO: AsiaOne/Jasper Lim
PUBLISHED ONFebruary 10, 2025 3:55 AMByDana LeongDBS Group said on Monday (Feb 10) that it will reward staff a special one-time bonus of $1,000, following the bank's record performance in 2024.
It has set aside $32 million for the one-time bonus payout. All staff, excluding senior managers, will be receiving the bonus.
Singapore's largest bank posted their Q4 earnings on Monday, with net profit growing 10% from a year ago to $2.62 billion.
The strong Q4 performance capped off a year of record earnings, with the bank's FY2024 net profit rising 11% year-on-year to $11.4 billion. The bank's net interest margin also expanded four basis points to 2.80%.
DBS also said it plans to pay a final dividend payment of 60 cents per share for Q4, up from the previous payout of 54 cents in Q3.
To manage down the stock of excess capital over the next three years, DBS announced on Monday that it plans to introduce a new capital return dividend of 15 cents per share, which will be paid out every quarter in 2025.
In the subsequent two years, the bank expects to pay out a similar amount of capital either through the capital return dividend or other mechanisms.
In February 2024, DBS rewarded junior staff with a one-time bonus of $1,000 to help them cope with the higher cost of living. A total of $15 million was set aside for this payment.
Looking ahead to FY2025, DBS expects their net interest income to rise slightly above 2024 levels on the back of predicted rate cuts in the later half of the year.
"While macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties persist, the franchise and digital transformations carried out over the past decade position us well to continue delivering healthy returns," said outgoing CEO Piyush Gupta.
CEO Piyush Gupta stepping down in March
PHOTO: DBS
DBS Group will be up for a major leadership change following the retirement of CEO Piyush Gupta at the end of March.
Tan Su Shan, who was previously the group head of institutional banking, will be taking over the reins as the first female chief executive in DBS' history.
"As I reflect on my journey at DBS, I feel good about where the bank is and am confident it will reach further heights under Su Shan’s leadership," Gupta said on Monday.
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