U11SGX

United Overseas Bank (UOB)

What it does

UOB reports 4 businesses. In FY2025, retail brought in 37%, wholesale banking brought in 45%, global markets brought in 8% and others brought in 10% of total income.

By region, Singapore made up 55%, then Malaysia at 12%.

From United Overseas Bank, Condensed financial statements, fourth quarter 2025.

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How it makes money

Where UOB's FY2025 total income came from, what it cost to earn, and what was left for shareholders.

Total incomeS$13.8B

ExpensesS$6.2B

Net profitS$4.7B

Net profit as % of income33.9%

▸ United Overseas Bank, FY2025: from total income to profitU11

Income by

Income
Costs, allowances and tax
Profit
% = share of total income

Source: United Overseas Bank, Condensed financial statements, fourth quarter 2025 (24 Feb 2026), pp. 2, 14, 19 and 24. FY2025 is the year to 31 Dec 2025. Figures as reported, in S$ millions in the tooltips and table.

Technical: expenses were 44.6% of total income and net profit 33.9%. Allowances for bad loans took 14.8%.

Plain: of every dollar UOB earned, about 45 cents went on running the bank and about 34 cents ended up as profit for shareholders.

Total income by business

RetailS$5.1B · 37%Profit before tax S$2.0B
Wholesale bankingS$6.2B · 45%Profit before tax S$3.4B
Global marketsS$1.1B · 8%Profit before tax S$755M
OthersS$1.4B · 10%Profit before tax −S$512M

Total income by region

SingaporeS$7.5B · 55%Profit before tax S$4.2B
MalaysiaS$1.7B · 12%Profit before tax S$857M
ThailandS$1.5B · 11%Profit before tax S$139M
Greater ChinaS$1.2B · 8%Profit before tax −S$83M
IndonesiaS$639M · 5%Profit before tax S$173M
OthersS$1.3B · 10%Profit before tax S$419M

See the numbers

FY2025	S$M	% of income
Net interest income	9,355	67.8%
Net fee and commission income	2,569	18.6%
Other non-interest income	1,884	13.6%
Total income	13,808	100.0%
Expenses	−6,157	44.6%
Amortisation of intangible assets	−31	0.2%
Allowances for credit and other losses	−2,042	14.8%
Share of profits of associates and JVs	79	0.6%
Profit before tax	5,657	41.0%
Income tax	−962	7.0%
Minority interests	−13	0.1%
Net profit to shareholders	4,682	33.9%

Allowances more than doubled to S$2,042M from S$926M. UOB says this reflects pre-emptive provisioning, mostly a general allowance set aside in the second half.
UOB assigns income to where the transactions and assets are booked.

Moat rating

Narrow moat

6.6 / 10

Return on equity averaged 11.5% over FY2021 to FY2025, 4.2 percentage points above a 7.34% cost of equity, and beat it every year. It fell to 9.6% in FY2025 as allowances more than doubled to S$2.0B.

UOB has cleared the bar every year, but not by much, and FY2025's extra provisions for bad loans brought it closer.

The numbers

7.0 / 10

Return on equity against cost of equity, money-centre banks

Average ROE: 11.5%
Average excess return: +4.2 pp
Years above the hurdle: 5 of 5

Spread 5 × 60% + durability 10 × 40% = 7.0

The sources

6.2 / 10

Where UOB's advantage comes from

1. Brand and pricing power6 / 10
S$426B of customer deposits against S$352B of gross loans at end-2025. Net interest margin narrowed to 1.89% from 2.03%.
UOB has more deposits than loans, so funding is cheap, but its lending profit shrank as rates fell.
2. Barriers to entry8 / 10
Banking needs a MAS licence and regulatory capital. UOB's CET1 ratio was 15.1% at end-2025.
You can't just open a bank. The regulator decides who gets a licence and how much capital they must hold.
3. Switching costs7 / 10
Group Retail brought in S$5.1B of income in 2025 from deposits, cards, mortgages and wealth products across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
Moving your salary, home loan and cards to another bank is a hassle most people never get round to.
4. Network effects4 / 10
Everyday payments run on shared rails like PayNow, which every participating bank can use.
PayNow works across banks, so UOB gains little extra just because more people use it.
5. Economies of scale6 / 10
Cost-to-income ratio of 44.6% in 2025, on total assets of S$572B. DBS ran at 40.4% and OCBC at 40.2%.
UOB spends about 45 cents of every dollar it earns on running the bank, a little more than its two local rivals.

Return on equity: United Overseas Bank, Annual Report 2025, five-year Group financial summary, p. 43. Hurdle: Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern, Cost of capital by sector (US), data as of January 2026. Damodaran's US money-centre bank figure, used as a proxy. A Singapore-specific cost of equity could differ.

Lens scores are rasinbunlover's judgment, reviewed 19 Oct 2026. A wide moat is a reason to dig deeper, not a verdict on the price. For education only. Not financial advice.

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