Highlights of DBS 2019 Annual Report and Sustainability Report
Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, China, Taiwan, Regional.09 Mar 2020
Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, China, Taiwan, Regional, 09 Mar 2020 - DBS today issued its 2019 Annual Report and second standalone Sustainability Report. The themes of both reports are ‘Pursuing the Greater Good’ and ‘Purpose-driven Bank’, respectively, reflecting DBS’ commitment to advancing the sustainability agenda as a purpose-driven bank.
Key highlights for DBS in 2019 include:
Letter from Chairman and CEO
For an overview of our digital transformation and the progress we have made in our sustainability journey, please refer to the Letter from the Chairman and CEO on pages 8 to 11 in the Annual Report.
CEO Reflections
Read about DBS CEO Piyush Gupta’s views on the role that businesses play in shaping a sustainable world, the impact of new digital entrants to the industry and the bank’s plans for Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, in pages 18-19 of the Annual Report.
Digital transformation – Becoming a technology company
2019 marked the sixth year of our digital transformation journey – a journey we started in 2014, ahead of many of our peers. Our digital transformation has been focused on three areas – becoming digital to the core, embedding ourselves in the customer journey and becoming a 28,000-person startup. Today, we are in the unique position of being a technology company that does banking instead of a traditional bank looking to digitalise.
In 2019, the proportion of digital customers in the Consumer and SME businesses in Singapore and Hong Kong rose to 52% from 48% in 2018, and reported income from the segment increased 16% year-on-year; income earned from an average digital customer continued to be twice that from a typical traditional customer with return on equity from the digital segment strengthening to 36% from 32% in 2018 (read more about our Digital Value Capture on page 22 of the CFO statement in the Annual Report)
Key digital initiatives undertaken and progress made can be found in the Letter from Chairman and CEO (pages 8-11) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) statement (pages 36-37)
Advancing our sustainability agenda
We continue to advance our sustainability agenda through our three sustainability pillars of responsible banking, responsible business practices and creating social impact. Progress made by the bank in its sustainability efforts are captured below:
Pillar 1: Responsible banking – delivering products and services that promote sustainable development and conducting business in a fair and responsible manner. Some examples (read more on pages 15 to 27 in the Sustainability Report):
Pillar 2: Responsible business practices – doing the right thing by employees and taking into account environmental and societal considerations in day-to-day business operations. Some examples (read more on pages 28 to 35 in the Sustainability Report)
Pillar 3 - Creating social impact – being a Force for Good by supporting social enterprises – businesses with a dual bottom line – and giving back to the communities. Some examples (read more on pages 36 to 40 in the Sustainability Report):
[1] Sustainable financing comprises:-
- Sustainability-linked loans: Loans that are structured to enable customers to pay less interest when they achieve a set of pre-agreed ESG performance targets which are validated by an independent ESG rating agency or verification party.
- Green loans: Loans made exclusively to finance eligible green projects in energy efficiency, pollution prevention and others.
- Renewable and clean energy-related loans: Loans made to finance renewable and clean energy-related developments such as solar, wind and others.
About DBS
DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 18 markets. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, DBS is in the three key Asian axes of growth: Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The bank's "AA-" and "Aa1" credit ratings are among the highest in the world.
Recognised for its global leadership, DBS has been named “World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney, “Global Bank of the Year” by The Banker and “Best Bank in the World” by Global Finance. The bank is at the forefront of leveraging digital technology to shape the future of banking, having been named “World’s Best Digital Bank” by Euromoney. In addition, DBS has been accorded the “Safest Bank in Asia” award by Global Finance for 11 consecutive years from 2009 to 2019.
DBS provides a full range of services in consumer, SME and corporate banking. As a bank born and bred in Asia, DBS understands the intricacies of doing business in the region’s most dynamic markets. DBS is committed to building lasting relationships with customers, and positively impacting communities through supporting social enterprises, as it banks the Asian way. It has also established a SGD 50 million foundation to strengthen its corporate social responsibility efforts in Singapore and across Asia.
With its extensive network of operations in Asia and emphasis on engaging and empowering its staff, DBS presents exciting career opportunities. The bank acknowledges the passion, commitment and can-do spirit in all of our 28,000 staff, representing over 40 nationalities. For more information, please visit www.dbs.com.
Key highlights for DBS in 2019 include:
- Being the first bank to hold three global best bank honours (by Euromoney, Global Finance and The Banker) at the same time. We were also recognised as being among the top 10 most successful business transformations of the decade by Harvard Business Review. The slew of global accolades continues to underscore our growing stature in the world (Page 3 of Annual Report)
- Being lauded by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for the strides we made in our digital transformation, and for our commitment to reskilling our workforce (Page 3 of Annual Report)
- Turning in record earnings and return on equity in 2019 of SGD 6.39 billion and 13.2%, respectively. Over the past 10 years, DBS’ total income has more than doubled, net profit has tripled, and market capitalisation has nearly doubled.
Letter from Chairman and CEO
For an overview of our digital transformation and the progress we have made in our sustainability journey, please refer to the Letter from the Chairman and CEO on pages 8 to 11 in the Annual Report.
CEO Reflections
Read about DBS CEO Piyush Gupta’s views on the role that businesses play in shaping a sustainable world, the impact of new digital entrants to the industry and the bank’s plans for Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, in pages 18-19 of the Annual Report.
Digital transformation – Becoming a technology company
2019 marked the sixth year of our digital transformation journey – a journey we started in 2014, ahead of many of our peers. Our digital transformation has been focused on three areas – becoming digital to the core, embedding ourselves in the customer journey and becoming a 28,000-person startup. Today, we are in the unique position of being a technology company that does banking instead of a traditional bank looking to digitalise.
In 2019, the proportion of digital customers in the Consumer and SME businesses in Singapore and Hong Kong rose to 52% from 48% in 2018, and reported income from the segment increased 16% year-on-year; income earned from an average digital customer continued to be twice that from a typical traditional customer with return on equity from the digital segment strengthening to 36% from 32% in 2018 (read more about our Digital Value Capture on page 22 of the CFO statement in the Annual Report)
Key digital initiatives undertaken and progress made can be found in the Letter from Chairman and CEO (pages 8-11) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) statement (pages 36-37)
Advancing our sustainability agenda
We continue to advance our sustainability agenda through our three sustainability pillars of responsible banking, responsible business practices and creating social impact. Progress made by the bank in its sustainability efforts are captured below:
Pillar 1: Responsible banking – delivering products and services that promote sustainable development and conducting business in a fair and responsible manner. Some examples (read more on pages 15 to 27 in the Sustainability Report):
- Completed about SGD 5 billion worth of sustainable financing[1] transactions, more than 60% increase over 2018. Signed the first export financing sustainability-linked loan of its kind in Indonesia with PT Sumatera Timberindo Industry, a leading premium wooden furniture door manufacturer. Also inked Singapore’s first sustainability-linked loan with an SME, Chew’s Agriculture, to construct a new farm with cage-free facilities
- Provided SGD 37.2 billion in loans to SMEs
- Offered financing support to 597 social enterprises under the DBS Social Enterprise Package
Pillar 2: Responsible business practices – doing the right thing by employees and taking into account environmental and societal considerations in day-to-day business operations. Some examples (read more on pages 28 to 35 in the Sustainability Report)
- Completed more than 10 pilot projects which included the use of bulk packaging in laptops, reselling of old furniture and composting of cafeteria waste since 2018.
- Eliminated DBS-branded plastic bottled water and implemented department-level paper budget control, resulting in reduced usage of materials.
- Launched “VC More, Travel Less” campaign to reduce employees’ travel footprint. Initial results show about 23% reduction in travel spent for meetings in 2019 over the same period in 2018.
- Awarded the Building Construction Authority-Health Promotion Board “Green Mark for Healthier Workplace” Platinum, for our DBS Asia Central and DBS Asia Hub offices, recognising our efforts to promote a safe and healthy workplace through design, fit-out provisions and proper maintenance of our facilities; aim to convert 64% of eligible space in Singapore to a Joyspace arrangement by 2020.
Pillar 3 - Creating social impact – being a Force for Good by supporting social enterprises – businesses with a dual bottom line – and giving back to the communities. Some examples (read more on pages 36 to 40 in the Sustainability Report):
- Engaged more than 25,000 stakeholders through DBS Foundation in 2019, including social enterprises, students, government agencies, tertiary institutions, SMEs and clients to create a call-to-action on environmental and social issues.
- Raised awareness and galvanised action through Sparks Season 2, which is a mini-series inspired by true stories of social enterprises supported by DBS Foundation; since its launch in July 2019, the second season has garnered over 144 million views across the region.
[1] Sustainable financing comprises:-
- Sustainability-linked loans: Loans that are structured to enable customers to pay less interest when they achieve a set of pre-agreed ESG performance targets which are validated by an independent ESG rating agency or verification party.
- Green loans: Loans made exclusively to finance eligible green projects in energy efficiency, pollution prevention and others.
- Renewable and clean energy-related loans: Loans made to finance renewable and clean energy-related developments such as solar, wind and others.
[END]
About DBS
DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 18 markets. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, DBS is in the three key Asian axes of growth: Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The bank's "AA-" and "Aa1" credit ratings are among the highest in the world.
Recognised for its global leadership, DBS has been named “World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney, “Global Bank of the Year” by The Banker and “Best Bank in the World” by Global Finance. The bank is at the forefront of leveraging digital technology to shape the future of banking, having been named “World’s Best Digital Bank” by Euromoney. In addition, DBS has been accorded the “Safest Bank in Asia” award by Global Finance for 11 consecutive years from 2009 to 2019.
DBS provides a full range of services in consumer, SME and corporate banking. As a bank born and bred in Asia, DBS understands the intricacies of doing business in the region’s most dynamic markets. DBS is committed to building lasting relationships with customers, and positively impacting communities through supporting social enterprises, as it banks the Asian way. It has also established a SGD 50 million foundation to strengthen its corporate social responsibility efforts in Singapore and across Asia.
With its extensive network of operations in Asia and emphasis on engaging and empowering its staff, DBS presents exciting career opportunities. The bank acknowledges the passion, commitment and can-do spirit in all of our 28,000 staff, representing over 40 nationalities. For more information, please visit www.dbs.com.
