UOB's 1Q14 profit to drop by 6% to $724m

Operating expenses expected to grow.

According to OCBC, UOB will be releasing its 1Q14 results on 30 Apr. 

OCBC analysts are expecting 1Q net earnings of S$724m, down 6% QoQ and flat YoY.

Here's more from OCBC:

We are projecting slightly stronger 2H than 1H (52% versus 48% of total earnings), and as such, we are expecting both Net Interest Income and Non-interest Income to come off QoQ in 1Q.

For the full year, we are expecting higher operating expenses as it grows its income, and this will require further investments into developing its businesses and human capital.

We are also expecting FY14 allowances to be slightly off from last year’s level at S$412m. Recently, the market seems to favor quality stocks, a reflection of the flight to quality, and we are increasing our peg back to our historical level of 1.4x now that the political tensions in Thailand and Indonesia have waned.