ICRA Lanka affirms credit rating for LOLC and its subsidiaries
View(s):ICRA Lanka Ltd, a Moody’s Investors Service-linked rating agency, has in its annual credit review affirmed the “(SL) A-“ credit ratings for Lanka ORIX Leasing Company PLC (LOLC) and its key financial services subsidiaries Lanka ORIX Finance PLC (LOFC) and Commercial Leasing and Finance PLC (CLC) with a stable outlook.
Kapila Jayawardena, the Group Managing Director/CEO of LOLC, expressed happiness with the continued confidence placed on the group by credit institutions, which is being reflected in the credit rating of the holding company and its subsidiarycompanies.According to an LOLC media release, the ICRA report further stated that “the ratings continue to factor LOLC Group’s long track record in the retail finance sector, its leadership position in the Sri Lankan retail finance market, professional and experienced management team and adequate risk management systems with strong retail franchise. The rating also derives support from the committed support and oversight from its largest investor–ORIX Corporation of Japan (rated Baa2 with stable outlook by Moody’s), which has a 30 per cent stake in the entity”.
Mr. Jayawardena said that despite the volatile market conditions, the group was able to maintain healthy operating margins whilst having a strong long term funding pipeline in place.
ICRA Lanka noted that “the group has been able to secure longer tenure borrowings at favourable rates, which is expected to support the overall liquidity profile and profitability going forward”.