KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd’s (HLFG) net profit for the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 (1QFY19) rose 11.07% to RM505.69 million from RM455.25 million a year earlier, on the back of higher non-interest income.

Net income or revenue for the quarter rose 7.8% to RM1.38 billion from RM1.28 billion previously; earnings per share grew to 44.2 sen from 39.8 sen.

The group declared a first interim dividend of 13 sen per share, payable on Dec 27, its stock exchange filing yesterday showed.

Group profit before tax grew 10.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM929 million due to stronger contributions from all its operating businesses: the commercial banking division, Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB), the investment banking division, Hong Leong Capital Bhd (HLCB), and the insurance division, HLA Holdings Sdn Bhd.

In a separate statement, HLFG president and chief executive officer Tan Kong Khoon said the group has made a “good start” in FY19 amid a challenging business environment.

“It is a measure of our management focus that our core businesses continue to show strong credit and liquidity risk metrics. We have a clear business and digital strategy which we are executing diligently to build long-term sustainable value for our shareholders,” he said.

Meanwhile, in separate filings, HLB said its net profit for 1QFY19 rose 10.63% y-o-y to RM706.92 million from RM638.97 million, on the back of robust growth in non-interest income, as revenue grew 5.93% to RM1.25 billion from RM1.18 billion; and earnings per share rose to 34.55 sen from 31.24 sen.

HLB’s gross loans and financing expanded 4% y-o-y, while its loan/deposit ratio came in at 82% as at end-September; cost/income ratio improved to 42% as revenue growth continued to outpace expense growth.

As for HLCB, 1QFY19 net profit grew 19.8% to RM24.03 million from RM20.05 million, as revenue rose 14.6% to RM82.6 million from RM72.08 million on higher contribution from its investment banking and stockbroking units, as well as fund management and unit trust management. Earnings per share grew to 9.96 sen from 8.31 sen.

HLFG shares closed unchanged at RM19.20 yesterday, valuing the stock at RM21.99 billion. In the past 12 months, the stock has gained nearly 26%. HLB rose two sen to settle at RM20.68, with a market capitalisation of RM40.3 billion. It is up almost 38% from a year ago.