S&P: DBS Bank unaffected

Standard & Poor's said the ratings and outlook on Singapore's DBS Bank Ltd. (AA-/stable/A-1+) are unaffected by parent DBS Group Holdings' reported fourth-quarter 2005 loss of S$441 million. The loss is largely due to writing off S$1.13 billion in goodwill related to DBS Bank's wholly owned subsidiary DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. and was despite a one-time S$303 million gain booked from a previously announced sale of office buildings in Singapore.

S&P said DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. does not appear to be experiencing any additional pressure in its business and financial profile beyond those already factored into the credit analysis on the bank and the wider DBS group. This goodwill write-off is in line with the revisions in the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards, which came into effect on Jan. 1.

The agency said it does not perceive the goodwill write-off to be a change in the economic value of DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. to the group; its impact is more from an accounting reporting standpoint.

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