Highlights of DBS 2021 Annual Report and Sustainability Report
Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, China, Taiwan.09 Mar 2022
Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, China, Taiwan, 09 Mar 2022 - DBS has issued its 2021 Annual Report and Sustainability Report today.
The Annual Report is themed ‘New initiatives, New growth’, reflecting our continued commitment to reimagining the future of banking, expanding our presence in key markets through strategic acquisitions, and pushing the frontiers of emerging technologies to unlock new revenue streams for the bank.
Transitioning economies, businesses and society-at-large to a more sustainable net-zero future also remains a key focus for DBS. To reflect this commitment, the Sustainability Report is titled ‘Empowering a Sustainable Future’, demonstrating our continued drive to support our stakeholders in advancing and achieving their sustainability agenda.
Key highlights for DBS in 2021 include:
Letter from Chairman and CEO
For an overview on how we are positioning ourselves for the future through strategic growth opportunities and by leveraging emerging technologies, as well as updates on our sustainability journey, please refer to the Letter from the Chairman and CEO on pages 8 to 11 of the Annual Report.
CEO Reflections
Read about DBS CEO Piyush Gupta’s views on the rationale behind DBS’ recent acquisitions, the impact of digital monies and decentralised finance on banking, and whether DBS is confident in meetings its net-zero commitment on pages 18 and 19 of the Annual Report.
Continuing our digital transformation journey
We continued to focus on technology transformation to build a robust and scalable foundation. This enabled us to swiftly switch to remote working without any loss of productivity and deliver on our book of work during the pandemic. Our early adoption of emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) also enabled us to help our customers navigate disruptions faced during the pandemic.
By keeping a pulse on trends and identifying emerging technologies, we are also able to create holistic solutions and innovations for a better society. As part of our aspiration for our Singapore offices to rely solely on renewable energy by 2030, our data centre and server rooms are being transformed into carbon neutral assets, while self-service branches and kiosks are being redesigned to leverage solar power for their energy needs.
(Read more about our key digital initiatives and progress made in the CIO statement on pages 36 and 37 of the Annual Report.)
To further progress our digital transformation agenda for the Consumer and SME businesses in Singapore and Hong Kong, we prospectively tightened the qualifying criteria for digital customers in 2021. To be considered digital, a customer now needed to have performed at least 75% of their financial or non-financial transactions using digital channels on a rolling 12-month basis, compared with 50% previously.
In 2021, the proportion of digital customers rose to 58% , an increase of six percentage points compared with the pre-Covid year 2019. This reflected an accelerated pace of digital adoption over the pandemic as the digital customer base grew 0.5 million to 3.8 million through conversion of traditional customers and new customer acquisition. The higher profitability and greater resilience of the digital segment also became even more apparent in 2021, with the reported cost-income ratio of the digital segment being half that of the traditional segment.
(Read more under the Digitalisation section on page 23 of the CFO statement in the Annual Report.)
Advancing our sustainability agenda
We continue to advance our sustainability agenda through our three sustainability pillars:
Key sustainability highlights for the year, include:
(Read more in our Sustainability Report.)
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 and the world’s “Most Innovative in Digital Banking” by The Banker. In addition, DBS has been accorded the “Safest Bank in Asia” award by Global Finance for 13 consecutive years from 2009 to 2021.
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. For more information, please visit www.dbs.com.
The Annual Report is themed ‘New initiatives, New growth’, reflecting our continued commitment to reimagining the future of banking, expanding our presence in key markets through strategic acquisitions, and pushing the frontiers of emerging technologies to unlock new revenue streams for the bank.
Transitioning economies, businesses and society-at-large to a more sustainable net-zero future also remains a key focus for DBS. To reflect this commitment, the Sustainability Report is titled ‘Empowering a Sustainable Future’, demonstrating our continued drive to support our stakeholders in advancing and achieving their sustainability agenda.
Key highlights for DBS in 2021 include:
- Garnering a record number of global accolades, including many first-time wins. Global wins included “World’s Best Bank” and “World’s Best Digital Bank” from Euromoney, “Global Bank of the Year” and the global award for “Most Innovative in Digital Banking” from Financial Times publication The Banker, and “World’s Safest Commercial Bank” from New York-based Global Finance. (Page 2 of Annual Report)
- Achieving a total of 58 sustainability and purpose-driven awards, and being recognised by renowned publications for our sustainability efforts with Global Finance recognising DBS for its “Outstanding Leadership in Sustainable Project Finance” and “Outstanding Leadership in Green Bonds”, and The Asset naming DBS as the “Best ESG Transaction Bank” in Asia-Pacific. In Singapore, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment also acknowledged DBS’ efforts to champion a more sustainable way of living with the “President’s Award for the Environment”. (Page 2 and 3 of Annual Report)
- Turning in record net profit of SGD 6.80 billion in 2021, restoring a trend of consecutively higher earnings that had been disrupted by the pandemic the previous year. Net profit was 44% higher than 2020 and 6% above the previous high in 2019. Return on equity was 12.5%. (Page 20 of Annual Report)
Letter from Chairman and CEO
For an overview on how we are positioning ourselves for the future through strategic growth opportunities and by leveraging emerging technologies, as well as updates on our sustainability journey, please refer to the Letter from the Chairman and CEO on pages 8 to 11 of the Annual Report.
CEO Reflections
Read about DBS CEO Piyush Gupta’s views on the rationale behind DBS’ recent acquisitions, the impact of digital monies and decentralised finance on banking, and whether DBS is confident in meetings its net-zero commitment on pages 18 and 19 of the Annual Report.
Continuing our digital transformation journey
We continued to focus on technology transformation to build a robust and scalable foundation. This enabled us to swiftly switch to remote working without any loss of productivity and deliver on our book of work during the pandemic. Our early adoption of emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) also enabled us to help our customers navigate disruptions faced during the pandemic.
By keeping a pulse on trends and identifying emerging technologies, we are also able to create holistic solutions and innovations for a better society. As part of our aspiration for our Singapore offices to rely solely on renewable energy by 2030, our data centre and server rooms are being transformed into carbon neutral assets, while self-service branches and kiosks are being redesigned to leverage solar power for their energy needs.
(Read more about our key digital initiatives and progress made in the CIO statement on pages 36 and 37 of the Annual Report.)
To further progress our digital transformation agenda for the Consumer and SME businesses in Singapore and Hong Kong, we prospectively tightened the qualifying criteria for digital customers in 2021. To be considered digital, a customer now needed to have performed at least 75% of their financial or non-financial transactions using digital channels on a rolling 12-month basis, compared with 50% previously.
In 2021, the proportion of digital customers rose to 58% , an increase of six percentage points compared with the pre-Covid year 2019. This reflected an accelerated pace of digital adoption over the pandemic as the digital customer base grew 0.5 million to 3.8 million through conversion of traditional customers and new customer acquisition. The higher profitability and greater resilience of the digital segment also became even more apparent in 2021, with the reported cost-income ratio of the digital segment being half that of the traditional segment.
(Read more under the Digitalisation section on page 23 of the CFO statement in the Annual Report.)
Advancing our sustainability agenda
We continue to advance our sustainability agenda through our three sustainability pillars:
- Responsible banking: Our responsible banking practices support our customers’ transition towards lower-carbon business models, and deliver customised retail solutions to meet their specific needs.
- Responsible business practices: We believe in doing the right thing by our people and embedding environmental and societal factors in our business operations.
- Impact beyond banking: We seek to be a force for good by championing social enterprises – businesses with a double bottom line – and supporting community causes such as those that are driving positive environmental and social impact.
Key sustainability highlights for the year, include:
| Delivering on our climate commitment | ||
| First Singapore bank to establish a Board Sustainability Committee to enhance our governance process in relation to climate impact and broader ESG matters centred on our three sustainability pillars | 34% of our total IBG loan book was used to estimate our financed emissions, compared to 9.6% in the previous year | 9 priority sectors were selected for us to focus on and develop granular sector-specific methodologies for, so as to better assess the impact of climate risk and support our clients in their sustainability transitions |
| Responsible banking | Responsible business practices | Impact beyond banking |
| First Singapore bank to join the UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance to realise a net-zero future by 2050 or sooner | 2022 target year to achieve net-zero carbon emissions from our own operations | SGD 100 million additional funding by DBS to further improve lives in Asia |
| SGD 20.5 billion committed to sustainable financing deals in 2021, more than double the amount from the previous year | Net-zero energy building the first in Singapore by a bank to be retrofitted for net-zero energy consumption | SGD 13.4 million loans disbursed at preferential rates to social enterprises |
| SGD 23.5 billion amount of ESG bonds raised where DBS is involved as an active bookrunner | Launched Opportunity Marketplace that uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to help employees identify career aspirations and skills needed | >100,000 employee volunteering hours serving the community in 2021 |
(Read more in our Sustainability Report.)
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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 and the world’s “Most Innovative in Digital Banking” by The Banker. In addition, DBS has been accorded the “Safest Bank in Asia” award by Global Finance for 13 consecutive years from 2009 to 2021.
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. For more information, please visit www.dbs.com.
