Record Year With 43% Increase In Profit

16 May 2005

Record Year For Dominion Finance With 43% Increase In Profit

Dominion Finance Holdings Limited has exceeded all forecasts in reporting a net profit after tax of $7.649 million for the year ended 31 March 2005.

The result is 26.06 per cent ahead of the forecast made in the prospectus for the IPO last July. It also exceeds the forecast upgrade made by directors last December for a net profit of $7 million.

Chief Executive Officer Terry Butler said the momentum had continued from the first half to produce a record profit for the operating subsidiary, Dominion Finance Group.

“The general level of business confidence has been strong and listing on the NZX has been a very positive experience for both sides of the business.

“Debenture holders regard the governance and reporting required by a listed company as an additional layer of comfort on top of the high standards we previously practiced.

“There’s also been an increase in the quantity of the lending proposals received from potential borrowers.”

Mr Butler said the lending portfolio had undergone further diversification in the last year with a wider geographic spread of clients from more industries.

Operating Revenue for the year was 9.21 per cent above the prospectus forecast at $24.839 million and 36.08 per cent up on the 2004 financial year.

Net profit before tax was 23.26 per cent ahead of the prospectus forecast at $11.38 million and 41 per cent up on last year.

Total assets grew by 33 per cent to $151 million, boosted by the $5 million of new funds injected by the IPO and an increase in the gearing ratio to 17 per cent of total assets.

Mr Butler said the year had been outstanding for Dominion Finance.

“We want to thank the dedicated team at Dominion Finance for the positive way they responded to the company going public and to the directors and advisers who greatly assisted in achieving that goal.”

A final fully imputed dividend of 4.71 cents a share will be paid on 7 June 2005 to shareholders registered on 27 May 2005.

“This takes the total dividend paid for the year to 6.9 cents, fully imputed, which is in keeping with the directors stated intention in the IPO prospectus to pay out 50 per cent of net profits after tax as dividends,” Mr Butler said.

Dominion Finance typically provides project finance for short terms secured against property assets. Funds for lending are provided by fully secured fixed term debentures ranging from six months to 5 years with an average term of 2 years.

ENDS

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