Stellar performance from LB Finance
Sri Lanka's LB Finance's net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 rose 92 per cent to Rs.438 million year-on-year.
The income during the period under consideration g rew 50 per cent to Rs.2.1 billion, while the net interest income increasing 41 per cent to Rs.1 billion.
The company's income rose by 45 per cent over the nine months, to stand at Rs. 5 . 5 9 6 b i l l i o n a s at December 31, 2011 and the net profit grew by a staggering 81 per cent year-on year to stand at Rs.1.1 billion.
Propelled by its solid lending portfolio, the net interest income g rew by 34 per cent to Rs.2.622 billion during the nine months.
LB Finance Managing Director Sumith Adhihett y e x p re s s e d hi s p l e a s ure at the growth stating, “An 81% increase in profits is heartening news, taking into account the unstable liquidity position the economy faced during end 2011.”
The LB Finance product range which is spearheaded by its trademark easy leasing and hire purchase facilities contributed to a total asset base of Rs.38 billion, including a total of Rs.32 billion worth of lendings.
This signifies a 37.6 per cent increase on the 2010 December figure of Rs.28 billion. In addition to lending facilities, the company's primary mover and chief funding factor is their benefit-heavy fixed deposit schemes; the deposit base grew rapidly to Rs.24 billion over the nine months from the Rs.19 billion recorded last December.
Net worth of LB Finance shares improved with the healthy financials recorded as the net assets per share g rew exponentially from the Rs.37.74 during the last financial year to Rs.50.78 at endDecember 2011. Investors will be encoura g ed by the steady path of success the company has been making over the years, culminating in the January opening of its seven-storeyed Cor porate Of fice on Dharmapala Mawatha.
“We place great value in achieving progressively higher incomes a nd e x p a ndi ng o ur o p e r at i o ns a c r o s s t h e c o u n t r y, ” s a i d L B Finance Chair man Dhammika Perera.
“However, LB Finance maintains that it is our customer-oriented work ethic that upholds us as a true financial trailblazer in the Sri Lankan financial sphere,” he added.