OVERSEA-CHINESE Banking Corp, South-east Asia's third-largest lender, said on Wednesday quarterly net profit fell 4 per cent from a year earlier, hurt by a drop in earnings from its insurance arm.

OCBC earned $622 million in the three months ended March compared with $647 million a year earlier, beating the $456 million average estimate of six analysts polled.

Core earnings, which exclude one-time gains from the divestment of assets and tax refunds, fell 10 per cent to $460 million.

OCBC's net profit in the first quarter of 2007 was boosted by a divestment gain of $90 million from the sale of an office property, and a tax refund of $47 million.

OCBC shares fell 2.3 per cent in the first quarter this year, compared with a 3.8 per cent decline for larger rivals UOB and a 13 per cent drop for DBS, Singapore's biggest bank by assets. -- REUTERS