Singapura Finance H2 profit up 67% to S$4.7m, full year up 101.8%

Megan Cheah

Published Fri, Feb 18, 2022 · 12:26 AM

SINGAPURA Finance S23 reported a growth of 67 per cent to S$4.7 million in its net profit after tax for the second half of the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021, up from S$2.8 million in the year-ago period.

In its financial results posted on Friday (Feb 18), the mainboard-listed finance company said earnings per share for H2 also increased by 66.9 per cent to S$0.0594, from S$0.0356 in H2 FY2020.

This brings its full-year FY2021 net profit to S$9.6 million, a 101.8 per cent increase from S$4.8 million in FY2020.

The group attributed the rise mainly to higher net interest income and hiring charges, and lower impairment allowances on loans.

Full-year earnings per share therefore also leapt by 102 per cent year on year to S$0.0606, from S$0.03.

The board has recommended a first and final dividend of S$0.02 per share and a special one-tier tax exempt dividend of S$0.02 per share in cash for FY2021, subject to shareholder approval at the next annual general meeting. This is up from a first and final dividend of S$0.015 in FY2020.

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For H2 FY2021, net interest income and hiring charges went up 35.4 per cent year on year to S$12.4 million, from S$9.2 million.

This was largely due to its lower interest expense for the half, which was down 56.1 per cent on-year to S$2.5 million, from S$5.7 million.

Its H2 net charge for loan impairment losses also fell by 9.7 per cent to S$0.7 million, from S$815,000 in H2 FY2020.

Meanwhile, the group's total loan, net of allowances, for FY2021 increased by 6.9 per cent to S$896 million, compared to S$838 million in FY2020. Total deposits for the year remained largely unchanged at about S$908 million.

In its outlook, Singapura Finance said it is cautiously optimistic of its domestic operating environment for 2022 due to Singapore's high vaccination rates. It also noted that inflation could result in earlier or larger increases in interest rates than anticipated and may trigger a "tightening of global financial conditions".

The group added that it will continue to pay close attention to commercial risks and position for growth when the economic rebound, consumers and businesses regain confidence in a post-Covid-19 recovery.

Shares of Singapura Finance ended at S$0.845, up 1.8 per cent or S$0.015, on Thursday, before the announcement.

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Singapura Finance Financial results

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