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| Friday, 9 January 2004 |
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HDFC to provide 20,000 housing loans worth Rs. 3 billion by Nadira Gunatilleke The Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) will provide 20,000 housing loans this year at a cost of nearly Rs.3 billion. This amounts to about twenty percent of the market share by the number of housing loans, Chairman, HDFC, C. Kandappa said. He said that about 500 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the North and East will also be given housing loans and discussions are under way to help build houses to the IDPs in the Wanni area in association with NGOs in that area. "We are also examining ways and means to increase the housing stock in the plantation areas to modern housing and sanitation. The percentage of repayment of loans in the estate sector is 100 percent", he said. Kandappa said that the HDFC was converted to a licensed specialised bank in July last year and the turnover during the past three years shows the increasing trend. The HDFC has been able to increase its profits in 2003 to Rs. 242 million from Rs. 174 million in 2002. At present about 1.5 million houses are required and most of the people who need houses are from low and mid income groups. The HDFC was listed in the main board of the Colombo Stock Exchange in October 2003 and a share of Rs. 100 has been sold at Rs. 175 based on 2002 accounts. The present value of the HDFC share would be about Rs. 2,000 when the performance of 2003 is considered. In 2003 the HDFC provided 14,700 housing loans worth Rs. 2,189 million. This is a 400 percent increase compared to the previous year. The number of loans provided in 2002 was 10,513 and the total value of those loans was Rs. 1,398 million. HDFC has 20 branches countrywide including Vavuniya and Batticaloa. Kandappa said that the HDFC only provides loans to build new houses or to add a new part to an existing house. Loans will not be given to paint or repair houses because this would not increase the number of houses. "We do not change our interest rates to match the market and therefore our customers do not need to worry over their future financial plans. At present we are the market leader", he told a press briefing at the HDFC yesterday. |
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