The bank aims to keep its excess capital as dry powder to support franchise flows and potential inorganic growth opportunities that may pop up
OCBC prefers to give dividends over share buybacks to return excess capital to shareholders, said chief executive Helen Wong.
“It is the same results (as) doing shareholder returns, but I keep the capital base,” she said at the third-quarter 2024 earnings briefing on Friday (Nov 8).
This bucks the trend from other local banks, with DBS embarking on a share buyback programme which will see it cancel shares bought on the open market, while UOB said a share buyback programme is not off the books.
