HLFG Q4 earnings at RM273m, FY at RM1.15b (1082)

KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd's (HLFG)
earnings fell 7.7% to RM273.69mil in the fourth quarter ended June 30,
2012 from RM296.73mil a year ago due to higher interest expense and
allowances for impairments.
It announced on Tuesday its revenue
rose 14.2% to RM1.088bil from RM953.19mil. Earnings per share were
26.30 sen compared with 28.60 sen while it proposed a dividend of 15
sen per share.
HLFG interest expense in Q4, 2012 was RM791.54mil
compared with RM590.59mil a year ago. Its allowances for impairment on
loans, advances and financing and other losses were RM66.09mil compared
with RM18.84mil a year ago.
For the financial year ended June
30, 2012, its earnings declined 31% to RM1.154bil from RM1.673bil while
revenue increased 12.7% to RM4.132bil from RM3.665bil.
"The
decrease was mainly due to two one-off gains booked last year (FY11),
namely a RM175 million one-off life insurance surplus transfer and a
gain on the transfer of Hong Leong Assurance Bhd's (HLA) general insurance business of RM619mil.
"In
addition, in FY12, there were a number of non-recurring one-off
expenses/ losses, totalling RM199 million which were booked in our
consolidated results, including Hong Leong Bank Bhd's (HLB) RM175mil integration expenses.
"Excluding
these one-off items, Group recurring profit before tax was a new record
of RM 2.4 billion with an impressive growth of 49% on-year in FY12," it
said.