$9.02m profit
FIJI’S locally owned financial institution HFC Bank recorded a net profit of $9.025 million for the year ending June 30, 2020.
Bank chairman Tom Ricketts made the announcement this week, adding that from a credit institution to a fully-fledged commercial bank in 2014, HFC Bank’s transformation was on the right path to continue its growth momentum to reach its full potential.
According to the bank the Fiji National Provident Fund and Unit Trust of Fiji hold 75 per cent and 25 per cent shares in the bank respectively with the bank declaring 100 per cent of profits as dividends to its shareholders as a commitment to the people of Fiji during these difficult times.
In addition the bank’s total assets reached $1.288 billion grew by 18 per cent from June 2019 while the net loan book grew to $901.574m as at June 2020.
The bank stated that it was a net growth of $100m continuously for the past three consecutive years and was confident that the net loan book was likely to exceed $1b by the end of this year.
Mr Ricketts said the bank’s operating profit before provision and tax was $30.225m with a significant special one-of provision to account for COVID-19 pandemic.
Bank’s chief executive officer Rakesh Ram said the bank’s performance was a testament of the hard work and dedication of the staff with the results being strongly attributed to the loyalty of their customers.
“We continue to improve our efficiency which is demonstrated by significant reduction in cost to income ratio whilst still maintaining our capital adequacy ratio above the desired level and regulatory requirements.
“The bank continues to source strong capabilities from the industry for key strategic roles, has a strong internal recognition and retention program with a comprehensive succession plan.”