UOB pins growth hopes on wealth management and fee income

But Asian slowdown will be a drag.

In the face of softer growth potential globally and in Asia, UOB management has expressed cautious optimism on growing its business and profits.

Two of the bank's bright lights will come from wealth management and fee income, reckons OCBC Investment Research's Carmen Lee, and this should help keep non-performing loans and net interest margin at steady levels.

Here's more from OCBC:

UOB’s 3Q14 net earnings of S$866m came in higher than Bloomberg’s poll of S$736m. Better Fee and Other Incomes were partly mitigated by higher impairment charges. Overall group NPL has stabilized at 1.2%. Net Interest Margin (NIM) is likely to hold steady at 1.71%. Management is cautiously optimistic about its prospects, in particular on wealth management and fee income, while mindful of the slowdown in China and the rest of Asia. Taking into account the softer global outlook, we have revised our earnings projections and valuations, and lowering our fair value estimate for UOB from S$25.00 to S$24.20. With a dividend yield of 3.3% and medium term potential total return of 11%, we are retaining our BUY rating.