LOFC goes public on June 30 :
LOLC sells 10 pc LOFC stake
Ravi LADDUWAHETTY
Lanka ORIX Finance Company (LOFC), a member of the LOLC Group will go
public next Thursday( June 30).
The listing is in accordance with a mandatory Central Bank
requirement which makes all finance companies to go public.
LOLC has also in accordance with the Central Bank requirement,
divested 10 percent of the shares that it had in LOFC, where 280 million
shares of the parent company in the subsidiary was sold at Rs. 5 per
share at a value of Rs. 1.4 billion through a private placement, LOLC
Group Managing Director Kapila Jayawardena told Daily News Business
yesterday.
The private placement had a large number of high networth investors
and some institutional investors as well, he said.
Despite stiff competition arising from the banking sector, Lanka ORIX
Finance Company has increased its deposit base by Rs. 7.3 billion (72
percent) during the last financial year.
LOFC’s performance is significant when compared with the 16 percent
growth in deposits in banks and the 22 percent growth of deposits in
Registered Finance Companies (RFC) in 2010. This has resulted in an
increase of the market share of LOFC in the RFC sector to 9.9 percent
from 7.5 percent a year ago, he said.
LOFC which commenced business operations in 2003 has now spread its
wings to establish itself as the leading RFC in the country. LOFC’s
footprint covers a wide network of strategic locations throughout the
island allowing the Company to reach a broad base of deposit and lending
customers. LOFC already has an expanding business portfolio which
includes fixed deposits, savings, leasing, loans among many others,
which caters to Individuals, Corporates and SMEs. LOFC is the only RFC
in the country with Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) approval to
mobilize foreign currency savings and deposits.
The holding company LOLC, after assuming its position as a
diversified conglomerate expects Lanka ORIX Finance Company to take over
the mantle of the leading financier to the SME sector with a significant
portion of the LOLC business being placed through LOFC. Leveraging on
group synergies, LOFC is expected to penetrate existing and new markets,
and is poised for a quantum growth.
In keeping with the strong deposit mobilization, the Company was able
to expand its asset base showing strong growth in the lending portfolio
growing by 134 percent over the previous year to Rs 20.8 billion.
Looking to the future, with the positive macro economic growth
prospects forecasted for Sri Lanka, LOFC expects greater momentum in
deposit mobilization and disbursements in the coming years supported by
the expanding branch network and its foray into the fast growing
Northern and Eastern markets.
In the interim, LOFC brand has now gained wide acceptance for its
products and services and is amongst the top brands in the country,
Jayawardena said. |