Thursday, 24 February 2011

HLFG 4Q earnings surge 437pct to RM787m, also aided by one-off gains

HLFG 4Q earnings surge 437pct to RM787m, also aided by one-off gains
Written by Joseph Chin of theedgemalaysia.com
Wednesday, 23 February 2011 21:38


KUALA LUMPUR: The HONG LEONG FINANCIAL GROUP BHD [] (HLFG) posted net profit of RM787 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010, which was a 437% increase from the RM146.38 million a year ago.

The financial services group said on Wednesday, Feb 23 the higher profit was mainly due to a one-off gain on the transfer of HLA general business to MSIG Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd (MSIM) of RM619 million.

“Backing off this one-off gain, HLFG would still record an increase of profit by RM90.1 million (up 29.9%) mainly from better performances by all divisions,” it said.

HLFG said revenue rose 134% to RM1.3 billion from RM554.25 million while earnings per share were 76 sen compared with 14.10 sen.

It said the commercial banking division recorded pre-tax profit of RM359.7 million versus RM291.3 million a year ago, mainly due to higher net interest income and higher share of results from its equity stake in Bank of Chengdu.

As for the investment banking, the division recorded pre-tax profit of RM19.4 million compared to RM4.3 million a year ago.

Its insurance division recorded pre-tax profit of RM650.7 million compared to RM16.3 million a year ago.

HLFG said excluding the one-off gain on transfer of HLA General business to MSIM, the insurance division would still record an increase in profit of RM15.4 million, mainly due to the share of profit for the 30% associate stake in MSIM.

For FY10, net profit surged past the RM1 billion mark to RM1.112 billion, up 266% from RM303.97 million in FY09. Its revenue was RM2.073 billion compared to the RM1.116 billion in FY09.

“The higher profit was mainly due to a one-off gain on the transfer of HLA General business to MSIM of RM619 million. Backing off this one-off gain, HLFG would still record an increase of profit by RM90.1 million (up 29.9%) mainly from better performances by all divisions.

For the financial year, the pre-tax profit increased by RM913.6 million to RM1.517 billion from RM604.1 million, up RM913.6 million. The factors were due to a surplus transfer of RM175 million from HLA Life division and a RM619 million one-time gain on transfer of HLA General’s business to MSIM.

Backing off the one-time gain and one-time surplus transfer from Life, the group pre-tax profit was 19.8% higher at RM723.7 million.

The commercial banking division recorded pretax profit of RM677.1 million compared to RM580.1 million in FY09 due to higher net interest income and higher share of results from its stake in the Bank of Chengdu.

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