Interest on loans increased by 15.9% to $259.5 million from $223.9 million last year.
Hiring charges also grew by 10% y-o-y to $53.2 million, while other interest income was 26.3% higher y-o-y at $37.2 million.
As interest expense increased by 9.1% y-o-y to $137.8 million, net interest income/hiring charges came in at $212.1 million, 20.9% higher than $175.4 million in the previous year.
As at Dec 31, 2018, the group’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $1.74 billion, with no bank borrowings outstanding.
Hong Leong Finance has proposed a final cash dividend of 10 cents per share.
On the outlook, the group says that it will continue to build its customer relationships in innovative ways and focus on writing more quality loans to drive higher revenue. The group will also expand its business partner collaboration network to achieve synergistic exponential business growth.
Furthermore, the group will be investing in its system infrastructure, enhance business capabilities and introduce new training programmes to reskill employees.
Shares in Hong Leong Finance closed at $2.73 on Wednesday.
