Housing Finance half year loss extends to Ksh.296 million

Housing Finance (HF) Group has sunk deeper into the loss making territory with its half year loss extending by three times to Ksh.295.5 million.

The three-fold loss extension has come on the back of shrinking operating income which offset gains from cost cutting.

Both interest income and non-funded income streams narrowed by 11 and 69 per cent to Ksh.2.4 billion and Ksh.285.6 million.

Net loans and advances to customers shrunk to Ksh.38.2 billion in the period from Ksh.40.5 billion last year while customer deposits were up by 16 percent to Ksh.39.2 billion.

The group’s operating expenses were meanwhile down by 20 percent to Ksh.1.6 billion on the back of lower loan loss provisioning and depreciation.

The lender’s stock of non-performing loans (NPLs) further improved by 8.5 per cent to Ksh.11.9 billion from a higher Ksh.13 billion last year.

The company’s earnings per share deepened further into negative territory to settle at negative Ksh.1.54 from a negative 50 cents in June 2019.

HF says it has restructured loans amounting to Ksh.9.8 billion or an equivalent 25 per cent of its loan books in line with directives to cushion borrowers by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). .