One of the "big three" Singapore-listed banking groups, OCBC, chalked up a generally strong set of results for 2014, rounding out a busy year that saw a key acquisition.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, the Singapore-listed banking group and parent to private bank Bank of Singapore, has reported a 15 per cent year-on-year rise in overall income at its wealth management arm.

Wealth management, for the purposes of the results, covers insurance, private banking, asset management, stockbroking and other wealth management products.

As a share of OCBC’s total income, wealth management activities contributed 28 per cent, as compared with 29 per cent in 2013, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

OCBC’s private banking business continued to grow, with assets under management 11 per cent higher at $51 billion at 31 December 2014, up from $46 billion a year ago. (Figures for this segment were given in US dollars.)

For the group as a whole, which last year bought Wing Hang Bank, the Hong Kong business, and increased its stake in Bank of Ningbo, it logged a net profit after tax of S$3.84 billion ($2.81 billion) for the financial year ended 31 December 2014, an increase of 39 per cent from S$2.77 billion a year ago.

Excluding a one-off gain of S$391 million related to the group’s increased ownership in Bank of Ningbo in 2014, core net profit after tax grew 25 per cent year-on-year.

OCBC Wing Hang Bank (formerly Wing Hang Bank) became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the banking group in October 2014. The full year results included the progressive consolidation of OCBC Wing Hang from July 2014, when the group first acquired a majority stake.