ISP Finance Services Limited’s (ISP) total interest income amounted to $263.62 million compared to $275.85 million in 2019, a decrease of 4%. For the quarter, total interest income amounted to $85.84 million (2019: $93.82 million). Of this:

·         Interest income from loans fell by 4% to total $263.62 million relative to $275.85 million reported in the same period of 2019.

·         Interest income receivables rose, amounting to $189 (2019: $174).

Interest expense totaled $22.23 million relative to $22.36 million in 2019; this represents a 1% decline year over year. As a result, net interest income fell by 5% to total $241.39 million (2019: $253.48 million). Net interest income for the quarter amounted to $78.49 million (2019: $86.59 million).

Commission expense on loans rose by 162% to $4.62 million (2019: $1.77 million). In addition, Foreign Exchange Loss totaled $79,404 in 2020 compared to a gain $90,787 the prior year. Whereas, other income amounted to $396.544 (2019: $16,300).

As such, operating income amounted to $237.09 million in 2020, a 6% decrease relative to that of $251.82 million. For the third quarter operating income decreased by 10% to $77.49 million (2019: $85.95 million).

The company’s total operating expense amounted to $186.33 million, down 12% from $211.28 million in 2019, while for the quarter operating expenses fell by 23% to amount to $56.93 million (2019: $74.05 million). The expenses for the nine months are broken down as follows:

·         Staff Costs amounted to $79.70 million (2019: $102.65 million). According to management, “With the stay-at- home work policies and rationalizing of staff resources, we have managed to reduce staff costs while ensuring that customer demand is satisfied.”

·         Allowance for Credit Loss totalled $30.83 million (2019: $37.58 million).

·         Depreciation was $4.02 million (2019: $3.89 million).

·         Other Operating Expenses amounted to $71.78 million (2019: $67.16 million).

Profit before taxes totalled $50.75 million (2019: $40.55 million) following no taxes incurred for the period under review, as such net profit for the period amounted to $50.75 million relative to a profit of $40.55 million in 2019, a 25% increase. Net profit for the quarter amounted to $20.56 million (2019: $11.90 million).

As a result, EPS for the period closed at $0.48 (2019: EPS $0.39). The EPS for the quarter was $0.20 (2019: $0.11). The 12-month trailing EPS is $0.32 and the number of shares used in our calculations is 105,000,000 units. Notably, ISP closed the trading period on November 16, 2020 at a price of $21.00.

 
 Balance Sheet Highlights:

As at September 30, 2020, ISP reported total assets of $698.48 million, a 5% increase when compared to $666.24 million in the prior year. Notably, the increase was attributed to a 5% increase in ‘Loans, net of provisions for credit losses’ to $630.50 million (2019: $602.35 million), respectively.
Shareholders’ Equity as at September 30, 2020 was $394.44 million compared to a $360.94 million in 2019. This resulted in a book value per share of $3.76 compared to $3.44 the prior year.