Singapura Finance posts 150% rise in H1 earnings to S$4.9m
SINGAPURA Finance S23 on Friday reported a 152.3 per cent rise in its profit after tax to S$4.9 million for the first half ended June 30, from S$2 million a year ago.
The stronger performance was attributed to a higher net interest income and hiring charges, as well as lower impairment allowances on loan, the group said in a bourse filing.
Earnings per share for the half-year period was 6.18 Singapore cents, up from 2.45 cents in the same period last year.
Net interest income and hiring charges rose by 33.8 per cent on year to S$12.1 million from S$9.1 million, due to a decline in interest expenses. The group recorded a 66.1 per cent on-year fall in interest expenses to S$2.5 million from S$7.5 million, driven by lower deposit rates and a lower average deposit base.
The group also registered a net charge for loan impairment losses of S$0.4 million, compared to S$1.5 million a year ago, due to additional allowances for non-impaired loans amid uncertainty during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, as a result of the higher allowance for loan impairment, Singapura Finance released S$0.5 million from its Regulatory Loss Allowance Reserve to accumulated profit, and said it will continue to "set aside adequate specific and collective allowances in respect of its loan portfolio".
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The group's total loan net of allowances also rose 5.2 per cent to S$882 million as at June 30, from S$838 million as at Dec 31, 2020. In the same period, total deposits increased 1.2 per cent to S$919 million from S$907 million.
Singapura Finance said it expects business will remain challenging, adding that it is monitoring the pandemic situation closely and will continue to manage its expenses tightly to push forward its efforts to digitalise services and processes.
"The group will also continue to support and monitor our customers' financial needs even after the absence of government support," it added.
Shares of Singapura Finance were trading at S$0.85 as at 2.24pm on Friday, up S$0.01 or 1.2 per cent.
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