George Steuart Finance shows steady growth in core business

George Steuart Finance Ltd. has shown steady growth in its core business, with an increase in its net interest income by 38% for the first half of the year. This growth in the net interest income has been driven by the growth of the total asset base by over 13.1%. The deposit base has also grown by over 500 million.

Lakshman Uduwara, Director/CEO, stated that the company implemented several intense business expansion plans during the year which included opening its seventh branch in Kandy. The company also had to make several necessary, proactive and stringent provisions (factoring in the prevailing economic sentiments) to ensure that the asset quality at GSF is always maintained at the highest level. These provisions have been carried out strictly as per the guidelines of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

GSF also commenced offering micro financing services through its recently opened Kurunegala branch in order to reach out to the enterprising rural youth and support them with financial assistance and managerial/technical inputs to improve their economic fortunes. It was due to these factors that the overall profitability showed a decline compared to the preceding year.

“Our focus is on quality over volume and in reinvesting on our expansion and consolidation centered on steady, calculated growth, whilst taking all necessary precautions to ensure our customers get the best long term solutions. Our primary objective is to stay true to ourselves, our valued investors and all our stakeholders. We assure all investors that we would always maintain asset quality at its optimum level,” he said.

“Considering the ongoing interest rate regimes and economic outlook, we preferred to make the required provisions rather than rescheduling to post higher profitability. Therefore, with a 44% growth in income, we are confident that we will achieve our long term sustainable growth forecasts,” Uduwara concluded.