Accordingly, net interest income/hiring charges rose 25.3% to $42.6 million from the previous corresponding quarter.
Fee and commission income increased by 30.8% to $4.1 million with higher fee income from both lending and non-lending products.
For the three months ended March, income before operating expenses rose 25.8% to $46.8 million from $37.2 million a year ago.
Staff costs decreased by 6.4% mainly to $14.8 million mainly due to the lower provision for bonus.
Other operating expenses fell 2.3% to $5.2 million.
Annualised earnings per share stood at 18.78 cents, up from 9.95 cents a year ago.
An interim dividend of 4 cents per share has been declared, up from 3 cents in the same quarter last year.
Shares in Hong Leong Finance closed at $2.63 on Tuesday.
