OCBC share price held ransom by Great Eastern
Is it the right time and right place for OCBC share price? At Price/Book Value of 0.805, OCBC share price is trading below its book value, no thanks to the fallout from COVID-19 pandemic. Yet against the backdrop of Singapore’s Phase 3 reopening, will OCBC share price be able to ride on the coming recovery?
On a quarter-to-quarter basis, Singapore’s GDP expanded by 7.9% due to the robust showing from the manufacturing sector. Being the bellwether of the economy, bank stocks are proxy to the country’s economic condition. In this regard, the coming third quarter business update will be a baptism of fire for OCBC share price as investors will be scrutinizing the performance of OCBC’s insurance subsidiary, Great Eastern.
What can float a boat can also sink it. While Great Eastern Holdings had provided OCBC an unassailable edge over DBS and UOB for decades, the volatile financial performances of the insurance company had wrecked OCBC share price in recent years. Coupled with COVID-19, it is indeed the perfect storm for both OCBC and Great Eastern.
Year-to-date, OCBC share price had been hammered left, right and centre by the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. OCBC share price would have suffered a worse fate if not for the $100 billion economic stimulus packages from the government.
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