By Yantoultra Ngui

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's United Overseas Bank, or UOB, maintained its guidance for 2025 after posting on Wednesday a 9% rise in fourth-quarter net profit that beat expectations and announcing a S$3 billion ($2.24 billion) package to return surplus capital.

"Our long-term investments in regional platforms and capabilities are paying off, and we expect continued revenue growth this year," UOB CEO Wee Ee Cheong said in a statement.

UOB, Singapore's third-biggest bank, said October-December net profit climbed to S$1.52 billion ($1.13 billion) from S$1.40 billion a year earlier on the back of higher net interest income supported by loan growth.

This beat the mean estimate of almost S$1.46 billion from four analysts polled by LSEG.

UOB, which is also Southeast Asia's third-largest bank by assets, expected its 2025 cost-to-income ratio to be around 42%, the top end of the 41% to 42% range it had projected in November.

Other than that, the bank kept its outlook for 2025, according to Wee's presentation slides accompanying the fourth-quarter earnings.

UOB's results followed that of larger peer DBS Group, which last week posted a 10% year-on-year jump in fourth-quarter net profit that met expectations and announced a dividend capital return plan, sending shares to a record high.

Singaporean banks were forecast to post stronger profits for the fourth quarter, but growth could take a hit this year as U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs and other policies threaten to undermine the global economy, analysts said.

Alongside its results, UOB announced a capital return package to distribute surplus capital over the next three years. That includes a special dividend of 50 Singapore cents a share in 2025 and a S$2 billion share buyback programme.

It declared a final dividend of 92 Singapore cents per share for 2024, versus the 85 Singapore cents announced during the same quarter a year ago for 2023.

Net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability, narrowed slightly to 2.00% in the fourth quarter from 2.02% in the same period a year earlier.

Rival Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation is scheduled to report its financial results on February 26.

($1 = 1.3420 Singapore dollars)