Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (O39.SG) 3Q net profit likely +21.9% on-year at $548.7 million, says Dow Jones Newswires poll of 6 analysts.

Loan growth will be key for investors, especially in small-to-medium enterprise sector also, progress on state of private bank. Expect net-interest income to continue to be weak so trading and fee income will need to account for likely mortgage earnings shortfall. 

“OCBC’s corporate and small-to-medium enterprise loans are likely to benefit from the pickup in system lending reported to August, and it is still too early to see a significant slowdown in mortgage volumes as a result of recent government measures to cool the housing market,” says Morgan Stanley. Results due during midday trading break Monday.