Hong Leong Finance snags 640th spot in global ranking of 1,000 finance institutions

HONG Leong Finance has been ranked among the world's top 1,000 banks for the third consecutive year by The Banker, an economic and financial report by The Financial Times.

It rose 27 spots from last year to its current 640th placing in this year's ranking.

Hong Leong attributed its rise in the ranking to the 7.8 per cent growth in its Tier 1 capital to US$1.33 billion as at end-Dec 2019, a measurement tool used by The Banker to map a financial institution's financial strength. 

The group is also the first finance institution in the world to be conferred the Porsche Financial Services' Global Top Contributor Award for the third consecutive year, for having bagged the highest market share of financing for Porsche cars worldwide.

Hong Leong Finance is a member of the Hong Leong Group Singapore, and has a network of 28 branches and 12 SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) Centres. Its loan books stood at S$11.55 billion, shareholders' funds at S$1.91 billion, and deposits at S$12.31 billion as at Dec 31, 2019.

Hong Leong Finance said SMEs make up about 70 per cent of its loan portfolio. To mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the group has granted loan relief to more than 800 customers, of which 70 per cent are local businesses and 30 per cent, retail customers.

The company has made available loan-payment deferment relief up to Dec 31, 2020 for commercial property for businesses, and residential property for retail customers; it  also recently launched a business-loans campaign to ease the cash crunch faced by SMEs. 

Hong Leong Finance's new car loan scheme offers more flexibility and better support to car buyers of selected makes such as the Porsche. New car buyers now have the added option of deferring their loan payments for up to 12 months upon signing up. 

The group's president Ang Tang Chor said: "We are honoured by the double significant international recognitions for the past three years, especially our marked improvement in the global ranking for 2020 by The Banker. This is a testament to our unwavering dedication and commitment that we give to our SME and retail customers through our targeted innovative solutions."