Category: Press Releases

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05 September 2013 : GL-KUBOTA Pact

GL-KUBOTA Pact

05 Sep 2013

SET-listed motorcycle leasing company Group Lease Public Company Limited (GL) will significantly expand its business in Cambodia to cover the leasing of agricultural machineries under a cooperation agreement with SIAM KUBOTA Corporation Company Limited, the market leader in farm machineries.

The agreement, cemented in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), was signed today (Sept 5, 2013) by senior executives of the two companies led by GL chairman and chief executive Mr. Mitsuji Konoshita and SIAM KUBOTA president Mr. Hiroshi Kawakami. It effectively authorizes GL Finance (GLF), a wholly-owned subsidiary of GL that operates in Cambodia, to take over financing for the popular brand of Kubota farm machineries the bulk of which has been handled by Kubota dealers until now.

According to the MOU, the two parties have agreed that “the cooperative effort is in the best interest of the people (of Cambodia) as one of the objectives of this collaboration is to help in the improvement of their quality of life and standard of living.”

For GL, the latest pact with SIAM KUBOTA carries significant business growth potentials in Cambodia where it has started to run full steam on motorcycle leasing after a year of preparations and systems testing. “There is great opportunity to grow our business since there are good synergies between our own network of motorcycle dealerships and the well-established nationwide network of SIAM KUBOTA dealers,” GL’s Mr. Konoshita stated.

SIAM KUBOTA Corporation Co., Ltd, a joint venture between KUBOTA Corporation (Japan) and Thailand’s blue-chip SCG, has reported massive business growth in Cambodia with combined revenue rising more than 20-folds from a small base of 162 million baht in 2004 when it started operation to a projected 4 billion baht this year. Sales are forecast to jump further to 5 billion baht in 2015.

Mr. Konoshita stated that GL will utilize its expertise and experience in financial services to help SIAM KUBOTA further increase sales. “Cambodia is an agricultural-based economy and farm machineries are crucial to support its economic growth. Therefore, there are still plenty of growth potentials in the future,” he stated.

Mr.Hiroshi Kawakami, President of SIAM KUBOTA Corporation Co., Ltd. mentions that as the leader in Agricultural machinery provider in ASEAN, Siam Kubota has its oversea sales operations covering in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and other countries. In Cambodia, we have received good response and found that farmers are willing to use agricultural machinery to increase their production efficiency. Due to financial limitation, as a strong barrier, Siam Kubota put intention to create more alternatives and financial opportunities for farmers to easier own agricultural machinery. The company has signed MOU with Group Lease Public Company Limited (GL), the leading leasing firm who has been long commercialized in Cambodia and is authorized by National Bank of Cambodia as the first company to do leasing and hire purchase services in the country. Under the cooperation, GL would provide financial services through Siam Kubota dealers helping farmers increase opportunity to possess agricultural machineries.

In 2014, SIAM KUBOTA will establish a new company named “KUBOTA Cambodia Co., Ltd” in Phnom Penh to align to its business strategy and cope with the rapid growth of agricultural machinery application in Cambodia. The company plans to develop distribution network, marketing activities and after-sales service system with the target sales at 5,000 million baht by 2015.

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05 September 2013 : Photo from the Signing Ceremony with Siam Kubota

Photo from the Signing Ceremony with Siam Kubota

05 Sep 2013

Venue: The Stock Exchange of Thailand Building

 

Due to the unexpected severe traffic, Mr. Konoshita, Chairman and CEO had to arrive by Motorbike Taxi

 

Mr. Varin Sachdev was the host.

 

From left to right, Mr. Opart Dhanvarjor, Senior Executive Vice President and Mr.Hiroshi Kawakami, President, Siam Kubota CorporationCo., Ltd. and Mr. Mitsuji Konoshita, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Mr.Somchai Limpattanasin, Director and Chief Operation Officer, Group Lease PCL.

 

After the ceremony, Mr. Konoshita gave speech on GL’s next Step to Agriculture Machinery in Cambodia.

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27 August 2013 : GL Interim Dividend

GL Interim Dividend

27 Aug 2013

SET-listed motorcycle leasing company Group Lease Public Company Limited (GL) has decided to pay 112 million baht interim dividends to shareholders or 11 satang per share, which represents a 61.7% payout from the 181.5 million baht net profits in the first half this year.

The interim dividend, approved at a special Board of Directors meeting today (August 27, 2013), came on the eve of an important announcement next week that  the company will expand its motorcycle-leasing business in Cambodia to cover the financing of agricultural machineries which also offers huge growth potentials because of Cambodia’s agriculture-based economy.

GL chairman and chief executive Mitsuji Konoshita stated that the new agricultural-machinery financing business will be conducted under the auspices of a cooperation agreement with the top Japanese agricultural-machinery manufacturer which has been the market leader in Cambodia. GL has projected it would take over roughly half of the approximately 3.5 billion baht worth of this business.

GL Finance, GL’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Cambodia, has recently beefed up its motorcycle-leasing business by opening new Points of Sales (POSs) in Battambang and Ratanakiri  and was targeting to go full steam for the remainder of the year. “The new agricultural-machinery financing business would significantly add to our revenue and profits from Cambodia,” Mr. Konoshita stated.

GL has earlier reported a 90.8 million baht net profit for the second quarter this year, or roughly the same as the first quarter. But Mr. Konoshita revealed that the Q2 profit would have been much stronger if the company had not booked a one-time charge for all the expenses in starting up  the Cambodian business. The Q2 results also took  into account the first significant consolidation of 16.2 million baht profits from GL’s overseas operations. Company executives expect overseas profits to continue rising in the  future.

In filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand today (August 27, 2013), the company has set Sept 12 as the Ex-D date for the interim dividend and Sept 16 as the Record date while payment will be made on Sept 25.

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14 August 2013 : GL Profits to Hit New Highs

GL Profits to Hit New Highs

14 Aug 2013

A combination of solid business growth in Thailand and significant revenue contribution from overseas operations will drive SET-listed motorcycle-leasing firm Group Lease Public Company Limited (GL)’s net profits in the second half this year to new highs, chairman and chief executive Mitsuji Konoshita stated today (14 August 2013).

GL today reported a new high of second-quarter net profit of 90.8 million baht for the 3-month period ending June this year, roughly the same as the first quarter and a slight increase from the corresponding period last year of 88.7 million. Total profits for the first six months this year amounted to 181.5 million baht, up 25.6% from the same period last year.

But although the numbers for the first two quarters are similar, Mr. Konoshita pointed out that the actual results in the second quarter in fact were much stronger– thanks to continuously strong revenue growth in Thailand and the consolidation of profits from GL’s overseas operations.

“We booked a one-time charge of legal and other related expenses for the setting up of our Cambodian operations in Q2. If this charge is not included, our net profit for this quarter would be much higher,” Mr. Konoshita stated.

At the same time, the second-quarter profits also included the consolidation of 16.2 million baht profits from GL’s overseas operations. “This is the first time that overseas profits are significantly consolidated. It is the beginning and from here on, we are confident that overseas profits that will be consolidated will grow strongly,” Mr. Konoshita stated.

The overseas profits are derived from a range of financial services that GL renders, such as the procurement of funds for micro-finance lenders in Cambodia or other financial services undertaken by GL Holdings (GLH), GL’s wholly-owned holding company based in Singapore that focuses on raising cheap funds and providing a variety of comprehensive financial services to both the financial sector and other industries as well.

More revenue contribution from overseas is expected to come from another wholly-owned subsidiary in Cambodia, GL Finance (GLF), which is launching full-scale motorcycle-leasing operations in the current third quarter after an extended period of successful system testing and satisfactory trial operations. Enjoying exclusive rights to distribute the popular HONDA brand in Cambodia, GLF is targeting monthly sales of 2,000 units beginning this quarter with enormous growth potentials in the future.

GLF has recently opened three more Points of Sales (POSs) outside Phnom Penh, including two in Battambang and one in Ratanakiri. It expects to set up 26 more POSs to cover all dealers in Cambodia within this year.

Mr. Konoshita also noted that GLH in Singapore, which consolidates all of GL’s overseas operations, has established a dividend policy to pay out about 70% of its profits quarterly. The first payout will be from profits in the first two quarters this year.

Meanwhile, the company’s main operations in Thailand continue to register robust growth despite the current economic slowdown. This has been achieved thanks to aggressive sales and more expansion of dealerships. Monthly average sales of roughly 8,000 units in the second quarter (up about 35% from the corresponding period last year) are rising to about 10,000 units this quarter and will further increase to about 12,000 by year-end.

“Motorcycle leasing in Thailand is still growing strongly,” Mr. Konoshita asserted. “The economic slowdown may be hurting those doing hire-purchase business for other products. But GL is in a special position. Our own history shows that we have done very well after economic crises. Our industry is very unique – customers still have to buy motorcycles even when the economy is not good. Each installment is very small and the motorcycle is a real necessity in the people’s life,” he added.

“For us, this moment is opportunity,” Mr. Konoshita concluded.

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19 July 2013 : Announcement of an Official Signing Ceremony of Dealer Agreement

Announcement of an Official Signing Ceremony of Dealer Agreement

19 Jul 2013

19 July, 2013, GL Finance Pcl. (GLF) has arranged an official signing ceremony of Dealer Agreement with all the Dealers of HONDA Motorcycle in Cambodia at The Sofitel Hotel, Phnom Penh

At  present, GLF has altogether 16 POSs located in many HONDA motorcycle dealers in Phnom Penh and the newly launched POSs in Battambang and Rattanakiri.

In addition to the signing ceremony, the management and staff of GLF have been officially introduced to the audience and a seminar on the operating procedures has been arranged.

 

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12 July 2013 : GL Finance (GLF) open its new POS in Ratanakiri

GL Finance (GLF) open its new POS in Ratanakiri

12 Jul 2013

On July 12, 2013, GL Finance (GLF) open its new POS in Ratanakiri

The newly opened POS is located inside HONDA SOUN SORPHEA, Honda’s Authorized Dealer.

Ratanakiri is located in the remote northeast of Cambodia about 630 Kilometres from Phnom Penh. The total area is about 10,782 KM2 with the population of around 150,000.

 

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09 July 2013 : Announcement for Establishment of New POS in Cambodia ~Expansion to Battambang, Cambodia’s the Second City~

Announcement for Establishment of New POS in Cambodia ~Expansion to Battambang, Cambodia's the Second City~

09 Jul 2013

With regards to GL Finance (stated as GLF below),  we would like to announce the first establishment of sales offices in Cambodia’s second city,  Battambang.  Two sales offices have been established and launched on 9 July 2013 in Battambang,  the second city of Cambodia. This is the first step for GLF to expand business networks from the capital city, Phnom Penh to the entire region.

Battambang is located about 300km northwest of Phnom Penh with a 1 million of population. The new offices are established under the alliance with HONDA NCX, a company that manufacture and sells Honda motorcycles, in HONDA PIN TY and HONDA HOUR SIVKHENG,  authorized Honda dealers. 

With the recent establishment of new sales offices,  there are now 15 GLF sales offices in Cambodia. GLF aims to contribute to the development of “ASEAN’s Grass-root Economy” and is actively employing local staffs. Staffs from Battambang were well trained in Phnom Penh which led to the successful opening with all local staffs. GLF is currently developing the business infrastructure of motorcycle finance throughout the country by actively expanding its point of sales in the region. 

As the only company in the country granted with Finance Leasing Business license,  we will increase the employment of the region and contribute to the “Development of ASEAN’s Grass-root Economy” through the utilization and promotion of finance. 

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25 June 2013 : Japanese takeover of BAY translates into windfall for GL

Japanese takeover of BAY translates into windfall for GL

25 Jun 2013

The anticipated takeover of BAY by Japanese bank Mitsubishi will translate into a huge windfall for SET-listed motorcycle leasing firm Group Lease Public Company Limited (GL) since it will be able to take over a big chunk of the leasing business currently handled by G.E. Capital, the major shareholder group in BAY which is reportedly selling out to the Japanese bank.

This upbeat assessment was made today (June 25, 2013) by GL chairman and chief executive Mitsuji Konoshita as the Thai stock market awaits a formal confirmation from the Japanese bank on the takeover of the G.E. stake in BAY. “G.E. used to be active in motorcycle leasing in Thailand. But the Japanese bank (reported to be buying G.E.’s stake in BAY) is not interested (in the retail leasing business). Therefore, this will create a great opportunity for us to expand our market share,” Mr. Konoshita stated.

Thailand’s motorcycle leasing business has slowed down at present due to the onset of the rainy season, but Mr. Konoshita contended that GL is bucking the market trends by continuing to record strong sales growth, thanks to the company’s growing number of new dealers that bring in more business despite a tapering off in sales by old dealers.

GL’s monthly sales rose to about 8,500 in May (up 44% from 5,900 in May last year) while the numbers are expected to rise another 3% this month (up 56% from 5,600 in June last year). The company is on course to hit the revised monthly sales target of about 12,000 towards year-end, Mr. Konoshita stated.

GL reported a solid 63.6% growth in net profits in the first quarter this year to 91.3 million baht. The pace of growth in net profits is expected to ease somewhat in the current second quarter as the company streamlines its back-office operations and enhances its IT systems to support further rapid expansion. Mr. Konoshita was confident GL will swing back to the aggressive growth path from the third quarter onwards.

Meanwhile, GL’s operations in Cambodia, undertaken by its wholly-owned subsidiary GL Finance (GLF) – are on course to start rolling full-scale in the third quarter with monthly targeted sales of 2,000 units. Because Cambodia is a virgin market where the leasing business is entirely new, GLF is proceeding with a “slow-but-sure” strategy with thorough preparations to ensure maximum efficiency. Trial operations so far with about 200 clients have proven highly satisfactory – with 0% NPL except for two stolen cases.

To tap the huge market potentials in Cambodia where GLF has exclusive rights to distribute the popular HONDA brand, the company has now built up a network of 15 branches including three new branches outside Phnom Penh (two in Battambang and one in Ratanakiri).

The Cambodian operations will start to make significant revenue contributions to GL in the third quarter. At the same time, the third quarter will also see a significant pick-up in bottom-line numbers because of other expected positive developments, notably the likely conclusion of ongoing negotiations for GL’s takeover of sizable micro-financing operations in Cambodia.

GL this week is hosting the Bangkok visit by a senior delegation from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), led by the NBC’s First Deputy General of Banking Supervision Ms. Chea Serey. The delegation was scheduled to visit the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) today where they would hear briefings on the Thai stock market overview by SET’s Executive Vice President Mr. Chanitr Charnchainarong and focused briefings on Thailand’s leasing business.

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14 May 2013 : ‘Group Lease Zooming into Golden Era’

'Group Lease Zooming into Golden Era'

14 May 2013

Group Lease Public Company Limited (GL) has posted a solid 63.6% growth in net profits in the first quarter this year as senior executives said the listed motorcycle-leasing company is zooming ahead into a golden era on the back of strong performance in Thailand and huge growth potentials in Cambodia.

In an official filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) today (May 14, 2013), GL said net profits rose to 91.3 million baht in the first three months this year, compared to 55.8 million baht in the same period the year before. The big jump in profits followed the company’s sterling performance last year when net profits rose a hefty 66%.

Aside from acknowledging the first-quarter performance, GL’s Board of Directors during its meeting yesterday (May 13, 2013) also adopted a resolution for its executive directors in Thailand and its subsidiary in Cambodia – GL Finance (GLF) – to start accumulating GL stocks as a measure of commitment and confidence over the company’s long-term growth potentials.

“In the years to come, GL will grow to become a much larger company. Therefore, it is appropriate for the executive directors both in GL Thailand and GLF in Cambodia to begin buying GL stocks to demonstrate their commitment and their confidence to grow together with the company into the longer-term future,” GL chairman and chief executive Mitsuji Konoshita stated. “In the long run, I’d like to see the directors (3 Thai and 5 Japanese) to own GL stocks in the range of 1-3% each,” he added.

According to Mr.Konoshita, the jump in net profits in the first quarter this year has come as the result of aggressive sales increases which were propelled by a larger network of dealers, particularly in the industrial zones of Chon Buri and Rayong provinces where a large segment of GL’s businesses are concentrated.

The company’s favorable performance has also been achieved partly because of Thailand’s strong economic growth. GL will post a record-high monthly sales of nearly 10,000 units this month, which is projected to rise to about 12,000 units by year-end.

The company’s operations in Cambodia through GLF, are also set to take off shortly as all preparations and back-up systems have been fully tested and are now ready. GLF is projected to record monthly sales of 1,000 units in June and the numbers are expected to double to 2,000 units in the third and fourth quarters, rising to about 4,000 early next year. Revenue from the Cambodian operations will be booked by GL starting in the third quarter.

Mr. Konoshita is particularly bullish on the huge growth potentials in Cambodia where GLF has become the first company officially licensed by the Cambodian national bank to conduct the motorcycle-leasing business. Operating from a position of strength, it enjoys exclusive rights to distribute the popular HONDA motorcycle brand there.

To ensure adequate funding for the Cambodian operations, GL recently increased the paid-up capital of another subsidiary in Singapore – GL Holdings (GLH) – to S$ 4.46 million (roughly 100 million baht). GL executives said GLH takes on the funding role because it could raise low-cost funds from Singapore.

With the Cambodian operations all set to go full-steam, Mr. Konoshita said he has also begun to actively explore other related businesses, especially in the lucrative and booming areas of micro-financing.

Meanwhile, GL has completed the registration of its new par value of 50 satang (split from the original 5 baht par) and has set Wednesday (May 15) to begin trading on the new par. The new exercise price for the conversion of its warrants into ordinary shares has also been changed to 2.95708 baht per unit at the ratio of 1 : 11.836.

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25 April 2013 : Group Lease all set for robust growth in Cambodia

Group Lease all set for robust growth in Cambodia

25 Apr 2013

SET-listed motorcycle leasing firm Group Lease Public Company Limited (GL) has decided to raise the capital of its Singapore-based holding company in order to support what promises to be robust business growth in Cambodia, which is expected to make significant contributions to GL’s bottom line this year.

According to GL chairman and chief executive Mitsuji Konoshita, the trial operations in Cambodia over the last six months have proven to be highly satisfactory. There has been not one single case of non-performing loans (NPL) among the first group of 200 Cambodian clients, except for two stolen cases which were fully insured. “We are now ready to launch full operations there,” Mr. Konoshita declared.

The number of customers in Cambodia, which is managed by GL’s wholly-owned subsidiary GL Finance (GLF), will increase to 1,000 next month and this will double to 2,000 in the third quarter as originally planned. “We could have pushed the numbers sooner, but we wanted to make sure that our Cambodian operations proceed in a prudent and solid manner,” Mr. Konoshita stated.

To ensure that the financial resources for the Cambodian operations are adequate and to compile with National Bank of Cambodia regulations on capital sufficiency, GL has decided to raise the capital of its holding company in Singapore by roughly 100 million baht. The Singapore unit – Group Lease Holdings Pte. Ltd. – will serve as the main funding source for the Cambodian operations.

According to an official filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) today (April 24, 2013), the registered capital of the Singapore holding company is being raised from S$ 3 million to S$ 4.6 million while the paid up capital will increase from S$ 757.500 to the full S$ 4.6 million. The money will be drawn from GL’s ample cash reserves which were recently boosted by the conversion of more than 9.2 million units of warrants into ordinary shares generating proceeds of 323.7 million baht.

Alongside the new expansion in Cambodia, GL’s main operations in Thailand are also growing strongly – thanks to a rapid expansion of the dealers’ network particularly around the industrial zones of Chon Buri and Rayong where demand for motorcycles leasing is high.

Since the start of the year, GL has been recording monthly sales of around 8,000 units although the numbers are dropping to about 7,000 this month due to the long Songkran holidays. However, Mr. Konoshita maintained that sales will jump to about 10,000 next month, a target the company had earlier expected to achieve around year-end.

GL last year recorded a hefty 66% jump in net profits to 357 million baht. Thanks to the continuous strong growth in Thailand plus what promises to be substantial revenue contributions from Cambodia, Mr. Konoshita has expressed confidence that GL will be able to maintain the same impressive profits growth rate this year.

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