Kandy branch doing well for LB Finance

LB Finance has recorded the highest amount of revenue from its Kandy branch for this year.

“This was our first branch set up in 1984, which was 13 years after we started the company,” Athula Jayasekera, Assistant General Manager, Business Development said, adding that about 12 percent of the company’s total deposits are from Kandy.

LB Finance presently boasts a deposit base of Rs 3.78 billion making it the third largest deposit mobiliser in the country.

Jayasekera said that a further three branches will be opened next year and further efforts at getting to know the customers and learning to design products and services custom-made to meet their needs will be a focal point.

The company has set the pace for another robust year once again when it posted a Rs.135.6 million pre tax profit for the half-year ended 30th September 2006, compared to Rs.67.8 million recorded in the same period in 2005, with the good results backed by well planned management strategy and stringent controls.

The profit also displayed a 100 percent increase compared to the corresponding period of 2005, while the company’s net profit achieved Rs.94.305 million compared to Rs.47.830 million in 2005 which is an increase of 97 percent.

Volume of business grew by 37 percent and the number of customers rose by 11 percent, while the net interest income, which is the interest income, over interest expenses - a key indicator of the health of the company’s business - reached Rs.136.54 million.

“Continued growth in lending volumes, better recovery practices and spread growth added to this increase. All lines of business, from leasing to hire purchase to pawn broking, contributed to the overall exceptional results,” Jayasekera said.

He added that the business activity increased at the branches across the country while deposits rose by 13 percent. (DE)