DBS eager to increase operations in Asia

Economic recovery and new CEO prompts lender to expansion that could increase earnings by 26 percent.

DBS acquired Piyush Gupta last year as chief executive in an effort to beef up the bank's expansion outside its two main markets, Singapore and Hong Kong, which currently provide the bulk of its earnings.

DBS Chairman Koh Boon Hwee said Gupta will unveil a roadmap over the next few months about the bank's business strategy, which includes overseas expansion, according to Reuters.

DBS, which will report 2009 earnings on 5 February 2010, could report a net profit of S$503 million, ($363 million) in its fourth quarter according to a mean forecast of analysts on Thomson Reuters up 70 percent from a year ago when it was dented by higher bad-debt charges.

Analysts expect DBS's full-year earnings to rise 26 percent to S$2.609 billion ($1.88 billion) in 2010 from a year earlier.