Q1 net profit rises to S1.98 bln vs S1.77 bln estimate
Net interest margin 2.27 vs 2.30 a year earlier
ROE maintained at 14.7 in Q1 versus a year earlier
Group wealth management AUM climbs to S273 bln
OCBC bids 1 bln for full stake in Great Eastern

SINGAPORE, May 10 Reuters Singapore39;s secondlargest bank OverseaChinese Banking Corp OCBC posted on Friday a betterthanexpected 5 rise in firstquarter profit and made a S1.4 billion 1.04 billion offer to take its insurer arm Great Eastern private.

OCBC, Great Eastern39;s biggest shareholder, offered a 37 premium over Great Eastern39;s last traded shares price to buy the 11.56 stake in the insurer that it does not currently own, valuing the insurer at S12.12 billon.

It plans to delist Great Eastern from the Singapore bourse if the deal goes through.

OCBC, which is also Southeast Asia39;s No. 2 lender, forecast its net interest margin at the higher end of a 2.20 to 2.25 range for the full year. It had first provided the range in February.

Net interest margin, a key profitability gauge for banks, declined slightly to 2.27 during the quarter from 2.30 a year earlier.

It39;s full year forecast now assumes a lower number of global rate cuts, said OCBC39;s Group CEO Helen Wong during a briefing with analysts and reporters.

OCBC maintained 2024 targets of low singledigit loan growth, credit costs between 20 to 25 basis points and 50 dividend payout ratio target.

While some recent economic indicators are looking more…