Hong Leong Bank reported higher quarter income
Filed Under (Business News) by Webmaster on 25-05-2010
Tagged Under : Hong Leong Bank
Hong Leong Bank Bhd’s (HLB) net profit for the third quarter ended March 31 grew to RM227.96mil from RM206.50mil in the previous corresponding period.
This was achieved on higher net interest income, larger share of profit from Bank of Chengdu and improved net income from its Islamic banking business.
In a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, HLB said revenue rose to RM508.05mil from RM491.024mil while earnings per share rose to 15.73 sen versus 14.25 sen.
“The increase was due to higher net interest income by RM9.3mil, higher share of profit from Bank of Chengdu by RM2.9mil, higher net income from Islamic banking business by RM7.6mil and lower taxation expense by RM30.1mil.
“This is, however, offset by higher other operating expenses by RM22.4mil and higher allowance for losses on loans, advances and financing by RM6.3mil,” it said.
For the nine-month period, net profit slipped to RM686.92mil from RM705.97mil while revenue was lower at RM1.54bil versus RM1.61bil.
“The decrease (in net profit) was due to lower net interest income by RM30.1mil, lower non-interest income by RM57.9mil, higher allowance for losses on loans, advances and financing by RM35.4mil and higher other operating expenses by RM36.5mil,” HLB said.
The bank, however, said this was mitigated by higher share of profit from Bank of Chengdu by RM14.2mil, impairment writeback of RM6.1mil as opposed to an impairment charge of RM33.2mil in the previous financial period, higher net income from its Islamic banking business by RM21.8mil and lower taxation expense by RM65.8mil.
In a separate statement, group managing director and chief executive Yvonne Chia said loans growth rebounded to 8% year-on-year in March against 2.2% for the first six months ended December 2009.
“Working capital loans saw a 12% rise for the nine months to March. Mortgages grew 6% year-on-year while unsecured lending, including credit cards, saw a 10% rise in receivables,” she said.
