Profits at the Singapore-listed banking group reached a fresh record, it said as it set out a broadly stronger set of results for business lines including wealth management.

Singapore-based DBS Group yesterday said that it had logged a 14 per cent year-on-rise in net profit to S$6.39 billion for 2019. 

Total income increased by 10 per cent over the year to $14.5 billion from broad-based business momentum in spite of external headwinds. Return on equity advanced from 12.1 per cent to a record 13.2 per cent.

Fourth-quarter earnings increased by 14 per cent to S$1.51 billion. Total income rose by 7 per cent to S3.46 billion from loan growth and a double-digit improvement in fee income.

By business unit, consumer banking/wealth management income rose by 11 per cent to S$6.30 billion, led by deposit and investment product income.

Wealth management fees rose by 13 per cent as demand for investment products accelerated in the second half. Investment banking fees increased by 66 per cent as income from equity capital markets reached a new high. Card fees advanced by 11 per cent from higher transactions across the region. Transaction service fees increased by 6 per cent, mainly from cash management. Brokerage fees fell by 26 per cent on reduced market volumes, the bank said. 

Earlier this week, DBS announced that it had evacuated employees from an entire floor of its main Singapore office after it was confirmed that a staffer had contracted the coronavirus. 

The Common Equity Tier 1 ratio - a standad international measure of a bank's capital strength - increased 0.3 percentage points from the previous quarter to 14.1 per cent.