IDLC Finance's net profit rose 17 percent year-on-year to Tk 134.3 crore in January-September, mainly driven by strong growth in SME lending.

In the first nine months of this year, IDLC acquired 6,277 new customers, while the customer assets portfolio grew by 10 percent to Tk 541.8 crore.

The growth in customer assets was driven primarily by lending in the SME sector, which also experienced 17 percent growth during the period. SME loans comprise 45 percent of the total loan book of IDLC, up from 42 percent at the beginning of the year.

Corporate and consumer financing, two other major business segments of the company, also experienced notable growth.

“All our business divisions -- SME, consumer, corporate, deposits, capital and money market operations -- delivered a strong performance throughout the year so far and combined, we have delivered a record nine months' profit in 2016,” said Arif Khan, managing director of IDLC Finance.

“The focus remains firmly on continuing the good performance for the rest of the year and also improving our portfolio quality, which experienced a minor dent in the last quarter with a slightly increased NPL ratio of 3.22 percent compared to 3.06 percent at the end of December last year,” he said, disclosing the third quarter earnings at a function in Dhaka yesterday.

The company's operating profit increased 7 percent year-on-year and stood at Tk 233.2 crore at the end of September.

It opened four new branches in the first nine months, relocated two of its major operations to bigger, better premises -- one in Gulshan and another in Dilkusha commercial area, introduced an online credit appraisal system, began SME credit scoring with support from International Finance Corporation and ventured into digital marketing.

“We, at IDLC, believe there is always room for improvement and we are relentless in our effort to be better today than yesterday,” said Khan.

“Surviving and thriving in this competitive market will depend on how we prepare ourselves for tomorrow. The challenge now is to scale up and reach newer heights and we are making investments in people, infrastructure and technology to face this challenge,” he said.

In response to a query, he said the NPL ratio increased slightly due to two major Muslim festivals during the quarter. “However, our focus in the last quarter of this year will be on NPL ratio management and cost management to accelerate the growth further,” Khan said.

IDLC was listed on the stockmarket in 1992. Each IDLC share traded between Tk 61.7 and Tk 62.9 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday before closing at Tk 61.9. Sponsors own a 59.66 percent stake in IDLC, institutional investors 23.34 percent, foreign investors 3.44 percent and the general public 12.66 percent, according to DSE data.