PPF’s Home Credit Groups Profit Plunge

Prague, May 30 (CTK) – Home Credit group, a consumer loan provider, made a EUR31m (some Kc800m) loss in the first quarter of this year, plunging from a EUR80m (about Kc2.1bn) profit annually, which was caused by the turbulent development on the Chinese consumer loan market, the company said in a press release today.

 

Another reason for the business result was a change in the Chinese regulatory environment, said Home Credit, a unit of PPF group.

 

The company provided EUR4.4bn (Kc114bn) worth of new loans, with the volume growing by 2.6 percent, and by 28.4 percent excluding China.

 

The volume of new loans rose by 150 percent in the Philippines, by 130 percent in Indonesia and by 110 percent in India. Russia reported a 13 percent annual increase.

 

Taking into account the China’s overheating loan market, where the regulator took measures to avert the lending bubble, Home Credit was cautious and purposely decreased the volume of new loans in the country by 11.6 percent year on year, Home Credit said.

 

Home Credit is convinced that it will quickly recover in China in the coming quarters.

 

The share of Home Credit’s non-performing loans rose to 8.2 percent in Q1, from 6.9 percent at the end of last year.

 

The group’s operating profit went up annually by 40 percent to EUR952m.

 

The network of branches rose by 95,000 to over 403,000, with the online distribution growing.

 

Online activities in Russia went up quarterly by 13.4 percent, while they added 14 percent in China, 19 percent in the Philippines, and 80 in Indonesia.

 

The number of clients actively paying off their debts rose annually by 23.4 percent to 29 million.

 

Home Credit, established in the Czech Republic in 1997, is a major provider of consumer loans in Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Asia.

 

PPF, one of the biggest investment groups in Central and Eastern Europe, is Home Credit’s majority owner with 88.6 percent of shares. PPF is majority owned by the richest Czech Petr Kellner.

 

Home Credit’s minority shareholder is investment group EMMA OMEGA, owned by Jiri Smejc, which has