IDLC Finance's profits go up 28pc

IDLC Finance's profits surged 28 percent year-on-year to Tk 277.70 crore, propelled by the performance of its SME division.

“We will work hard to exceed this performance in 2018 and beyond,” said Arif Khan, managing director of IDLC Finance, while unveiling the annual report at its head office in Dhaka.

The board proposed offering 30 percent cash dividend for last year, he said. Its earnings per share grew to Tk 6.13 from Tk 5.49 in the previous year, while its customer loans grew 15 percent year-on-year to Tk 7,149.90 crore.

In 2017, IDLC Finance acquired 11,295 new customers to take the total number to nearly 50,000.

The SME division led the growth with a rise of Tk 480 crore in its portfolio at the year-end. As of December 2017, the total SME loan stood at Tk 3,085 crore.

Its subsidiaries -- IDLC Securities, IDLC Investments, and IDLC Asset Management -- also posted strong performance, with 267 percent, 63 percent and 275 percent growth in profitability respectively over the preceding year.

“We managed to increase our loan book significantly in the last year while controlling the non-performing loan ratio. This sets the company a strong foundation based on which we can pursue further growth,” Khan said.

The non-performing loans of the company accounted for 2.77 percent of its total outstanding loans in contrast to 2.98 percent a year earlier.

The financial institution is now spending a remarkable amount of fund to improve its human resource, which will ultimately boost client services, he added.