Singapore  - DBS Group, Singapore's largest bank, announced 900 jobs cuts after it suffered a sharp drop in third quarter profit, a news report said Saturday.

About half of the retrenchments, which amount to 6 per cent of the company's total staff will affect its Singapore operations, a report by the Straits Times newspaper said. The cuts are to be carried out before Christmas, the report added.

DBS employs 7,600 staff in Singapore and 4,200 in Hong Kong, which will also be affected by the cuts.

The DBS announcement comes after workers in Singapore have been laid off by other banks and investment houses like Merrill Lynch, Standard Chartered and UBS.

DBS reported a 38-per-cent drop in net profit to 379 million Singapore dollars (254 million US dollars) for the quarter that ended 30 September 2008.

DBS chief executive officer Richard Stanley said the operating environment is increasingly challenging for financial institutions all over the world.

In the first nine months of the year, net profit fell 13 per cent year-on-year to 1.67 billion Singapore dollars said DBS in a statement. (dpa)