Sing Investments & Finance reports 1.4% dip in Q2 profit

SING Investments & Finance turned in a net profit of S$2.66 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015, down 1.4 per cent from S$2.7 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

Interest income and hiring charges came to S$15.49 million, up 24.3 per cent due to an expanded loan base, while interest expense came to S$7.09 million, or around 51 per cent more. As a result, net interest income and hiring charges worked out to S$8.4 million - or 8.2 per cent higher.

Income before operating expenses was S$9.6 million, 6.8 per cent higher than in Q2 2014.

Earnings per share for the quarter came to 6.75 cents, down from 6.84 cents previously.

For the full year, net profit was 18.8 per cent lower at S$5.25 million, mainly due to an increase in loan allowances.

"With the slowdown in economic growth and the continual impact of the property cooling measures and car financing restrictions, we expect the business environment to continue to be challenging and competitive," the group said. "Nevertheless, the group will strive to grow our loan portfolio prudently and manage our interest margin and operational costs to remain competitive."