Bangkok--12 Nov--Master Mind Communications
SET-listed motorcycle leasing firm Group Lease Public Company Limited (GL) has reported a 106 million baht net profit from its operations in the third quarter ending September, which represents a respectable 17% increase from the previous quarter.
GL chairman and chief executive officer Misuji Konoshita stated that the solid profit growth has come as the result of continuously strong sales growth on the back of an aggressive expansion of GL sales offices at motorcycle dealerships in various parts of Thailand.
GL’s combined portfolio as of end-September stood at 2.8 billion baht, a whopping increase of more than 20% compared to about 2.2 billion at the end of last year.
Mr Konoshita added that initial results from the end of September until now indicated further improvement in the company’s performance during the final quarter, which should contribute to substantial gains for all-year 2012.
GL’s portfolio in Thailand currently covers more than 100,000 units of motorcycles. The company has projected that the number will double to 200,000 units by 2015 as the result of its aggressive sales drive on the back of favorable economic and market conditions.
The company has also embarked on an ambitious expansion program to penetrate the booming motorcycle markets in neighboring countries in order to capitalize on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) that will come into being in 2015.
As the first major expansion outside Thailand, GL has established a solid foothold in neighboring Cambodia as the first company officially licensed to provide financing for motorcycle buyers. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary in Cambodia GL Finance (GLF), the company expected to capitalize on Cambodia’s colossal motorcycle demand by driving sales to 300,000 units by 2015.
To accelerate growth and speed up the company’s expansion into the regional markets, GL has also been eyeing possible takeovers of medium-size and large finance firms doing similar leasing businesses in Vietnam and Indonesia with the target to add another 500,000 accounts to its total portfolio by 2015.
From GL’s operations in Thailand and Cambodia plus the targeted takeovers in Vietnam and Indonesia, the company aims to build up a combined aggregate portfolio of 1 million units by 2015 to fulfill its corporate vision of becoming a leading ASEAN regional finance company.