People's Leasing Group posts strong quarterly profits
The People's Leasing Company PLC, a subsidiary of People's Bank,
Following are excerpts of an interview (send by the bank) with D.p.kumarage, the Chief Executive Officer/general Manager of People's Leasing Group:
At the end of the financial year all organisations take a step back to look at their yearly performance and evaluate the standard of the company. People's Leasing Group has had a very fulfilling first nine months in terms of their net profits, could you please elaborate on this?
I am pleased to say that the People's Leasing Group has once again achieved a significant standard for our profits in the year of 2011. First three quarters profits of People's Leasing Group for the year 2011/12 was Rs. 3.4 billion, as opposed to Rs. 1.3 billion which was obtained in the same time period the previous year. And our last quarter profits, from September to December 2011, were at Rs.843 million whereas the previous year it stood at Rs. 572 million. We are particularly pleased with the profits that have been achieved because it is the first-quarter since the People's Leasing Group was listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange.
This is People's Leasing Company's tenth year, standing strong as a market leader. The company granted facilities in excess of Rs 40 billion during the current period. So we are definitely an undisputed marketleader, and this is a significant achievement in our 16 years of operation. Investors are critical in the maintenance of any organisation. What is the strength of the company to investors?
We recently had the second largest IPO in Sri Lankan history. So this was definitely because of the strong trust and confidence that our shareholders as well as the public place in us.
As an organisation we will endeavor to maintain the trust and confidence that the public has in us.
Our financial success can also be attributed to the gearing ratio which, prior to the IPO was 6 but it is currently less than 4. Net assets are more than Rs.10.61 per share, which is good news for all our investors whilst Earnings per Share (EPS) for the first nine-months of 2011/12 stood at Rs.2.66.
What are your future plans especially with regards to the evolving market rates?
We can see that the future will most certainly be a bright one. The government has removed the Value Added Tax (VAT) and reduced the import duty on vehicles like buses and lorries. So the increasing market prices will not deter us. Despite the increase in the market rates we are confident of achieving our targets.
The success of an organisation is not solely dependent on finances but other qualitative factors also come in to play. Will People's Leasing Company open more branches and expand its network in the near future?
The way we go about setting up a branch follows a different system. Initially, we would have a People's Leasing outlet called a window office at the premises of People's Bank in a particular town.
Once our customer base grows we then move to a mini-branch concept and again once our customer base grows we open a fully-fledged branch. So, yes, as our customer base grows we will expand with more branches in order to serve them better.