Hong Leong Finance anticipates lower net profit in Q2

Hong Leong Finance has reported a decrease of 17.8 % in its second-quarter net profit to S$26.3 million, down from S$32 million from the same quarter last year.

The company said the results were arrived at after writing back allowances for doubtful debts amounting to S$8.5 million for the quarter.

An interim dividend of four cents per share has been declared for the financial year ending December 31 and will paid on September 15.

Net loan assets including hire purchase receivables stood at S$6.7 billion at the end of the financial period under review.

This is an increase of 12.3 per cent over S$5.9 billion as at June 30 last year.

Total interest income/hiring charges for the quarter declined by 15.6 per cent resulting from lower loan yield.

Fee and commission income for the quarter decreased by 46.1 per cent mainly due to lower fee income from lending products.

Going forward, Hong Leong said it will continue to adopt a cautious lending policy and build up relationships with existing clients.

It added more innovative deposit campaigns for savings as well as fixed deposits will be rolled out to cater to their deposit supporters.

The full story is available at Channel News Asia.