Why DBS is becoming a hot industry topic lately

Clue: acquisition and China slowdown.

According to OCBC, recently, DBS has been in the news.

First, there was the acquisition of the Asian private banking business of Societe General in Singapore and Hong Kong for US$220m with assets under management (AUM) of US$12.6b (S$16b) as of 31 Dec 2013 – which will complement its Wealth strategy.

Here's more from OCBC:

More importantly, this acquisition will lift DBS to become one of the key players in Wealth business in Asia. Apart from Wealth, the group has also shared about its global transaction business and SME strategies.

For the former, it remains confident of its prospects despite rising concern about a slowdown in China. About 60% of its transaction services revenue is from multinational clients.

For its SME, total income grew 12% per year from FY11-FY13, and despite Singapore being a somewhat matured market, income from Singapore grew 17% for the same period.