Category: Press Releases

Categories
Press Releases

02 March 2020 : Group Lease announces consolidated net loss due to legal costs and conservative impairments, but big legal wins and profitable Thailand performance forecast good results for 2020

Group Lease announces consolidated net loss due to legal costs and conservative impairments, but big legal wins and profitable Thailand performance forecast good results for 2020

02 Mar 2020

Group Lease Public Company Limited reported 2019 net loss of 21.61 million baht after using this year to win legal battles and restate smart growth in Thailand and Cambodia

Mr. Tatsuya Konoshita, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lease Public Company Limited, said “at GL we have two business hands, one for Thailand and one for our international businesses that fall under our Singapore subsidiary. Due to both our hands being attacked by JTrust with the Thai rehabilitation case and Singapore civil case, we had to decrease our portfolio especially in Thailand and Cambodia. However, we achieved a big win in August 2019 when the Thai Bankruptcy Court dismissed the rehabilitation case. That allowed us to grow our Thai business and we saw a meaningful increase in sales in the fourth quarter. Just this month we won the Singapore case as well, which has freed our international hand. With both hands now free and more than 3 billion in cash, we expect 2020 to be a very good year for us.”

Mr. Alain Jean Pascal Dufes, Chief Financial Officer of Group Lease Public Company Limited, revealed that “while the Company lost 21.61 million in 2019—we improved in Thai operations by more than 79 million. Thai operations (not including group costs such as financing, professional fees, and exchange rates) improved to 537 million from 458 million. We are extremely happy with the improvement and performance of our Thai business during this year especially under these uncertain macroeconomic conditions. For the group, revenue declined by 340 million or 12% compared to 2018 while service and administration expenses, excluding professional fees, decreased by 154 million or 13%. The negatives are that we recorded more than 174 million in legal expense (more than 100% increase) and a non-cash 135 million impairment for our investment in Bank JTrust, the same JTrust group we have our lawsuits with. The legal expenses and impairment in Bank JTrust reduced profit by nearly 310 million and is the reason for our loss this year.”

Mr. Tatsuya Konoshita, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lease Public Company Limited, stated “2019 involved us continuing to fight JTrust in multiple countries as well as try to make our business operations profitable and grow again. While we fought JTrust in Singapore this past year, we found out earlier this month that we won. We are continuing to prepare to again fight JTrust in Thailand and we look forward to getting the same result. As our CFO Alain discussed, we have made our business operations more efficient and have improved significantly in Thailand and Cambodia—our two oldest and largest markets. Unfortunately, those improvements for now are hidden in our net profit number due to legal fees and impairments related to JTrust. Legal costs should start to decline since we won the Singapore case, but we will start to fight back against JTrust and claim for the damages and expenses they have caused us with their unjustified legal actions. We strongly believe in our business and our opportunities and we expect 2020 to not just be a great year for us legally, but to be a great year for us profit wise as well since our hands are now free.

Categories
Press Releases

12 February 2020 : Group Lease wins alleged conspiracy and fraud case in Singapore against JTrust

Group Lease wins alleged conspiracy and fraud case in Singapore against JTrust

12 Feb 2020

In December 2017, JTrust Asia “JTA” filed a civil lawsuit against Group Lease Holdings “GLH” (our Singapore entity) alleging Group Lease Holdings committed torts of deceit and conspiracy to misrepresent the financial position of Group Lease to entice JTA to invest into Group Lease.

Today, the High Court of Singapore dismissed JTA’s claim in the torts of deceit and conspiracy against all defendants and ordered JTA’s to pay the costs of the defendants including Group Lease.

Additionally, the High Court of Singapore concluded that:

  • JTA failed to show that Group Lease financial statements were prepared dishonestly
  • JTA’s financial expert’s analysis is questionable and was even partially contradicted by JTA themselves
  • JTA continued to make investments into Group Lease after being aware of the Singapore and Cyprus Borrowers
  • The loans to the Singapore and Cyprus borrowers did not form a basis to allege fraud

We are grateful to the High Court of Singapore for handling this case since late 2017 and for evaluating the evidence fairly and thoroughly. Group Lease has always been confident that once we argue in court, that we will be successful.

JTA now has had claims against Group Lease and our companies dismissed in Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia. While there are still claims ongoing from JTA against Group Lease, we will continue to fight and continue to win across multiple countries as long as needed.

 

Categories
Press Releases

16 January 2020 : JTrust withdraws civil claim against Group Lease for defamation in Thailand

JTrust withdraws civil claim against Group Lease for defamation in Thailand

16 Jan 2020

In 2018, JTrust filed both a criminal and civil complaint against GL alleging Group Lease committed of defamation against JTrust regarding its announcement dated 27 February 2018 on Group Lease’s website.

On 31 January 2019, the Court of First Instance rendered its judgement in the criminal case, dismissing JTrust’s charges citing lack of sufficient grounds for a formal trial. Subsequently, JTrust submitted an appeal on 25 April 2019.

On 11 December 2019, the Appeal Court rendered its judgement and again dismissed JTrust’s criminal charge against Group Lease.

In January 2020, the civil trial was scheduled to being, however, we learned today that JTrust has decided to withdraw this case and will no longer take civil legal proceedings against Group Lease based on this matter. Therefore, this matter is considered final. We appreciate the Thai courts for their judgements on these matters.

Categories
Press Releases

11 December 2019 : JTrust Claim against Group Lease again dismissed in Thailand Appeal Court

JTrust Claim against Group Lease again dismissed in Thailand Appeal Court

11 Dec 2019

On 3 May 2018, JTrust filed a criminal charge against Group Lease PCL, alleging Group Lease committed the offense of defamation regarding its announcement dated 27 February 2018 on Group Lease’s website.

On 31 January 2019, the Court of First Instance rendered its judgement, dismissing JTrust’s charges citing lack of sufficient grounds for a formal trial. Subsequently, JTrust submitted an appeal on 25 April 2019.

On 11 December 2019, the Appeal Court rendered its judgement and again dismissed JTrust charge against Group Lease.

This is the second instance this month where an appeal court dismissed JTrust’s claim against a Group Lease company. Earlier this month, the High Court of Jakarta dismissed JTrust’s claim against our Indonesian subsidiary. While litigation can be time consuming, we are thankful courts are acknowledging that much of JTrust’s claims are invalid.

Categories
Press Releases

04 December 2019 : Claim against Group Lease Indonesia from Bank JTrust Indonesia again dismissed in Indonesian courts

Claim against Group Lease Indonesia from Bank JTrust Indonesia again dismissed in Indonesian courts

04 Dec 2019

On 1 October 2018, PT Bank JTrust Indonesia filed a claim against Group Lease Finance Indonesia, Group Lease’s Indonesian subsidy, in the amount of approximately THB 230 million alleging breach of the joint financing agreement.

On 14 May 2019, the Court dismissed Bank JTrust Indonesia’s claim. JTrust Indonesia later appealed this decision to the High Court of Jakarta.

On 3 December 2019, the High Court of Jakarta rendered its decision and again dismissed JTrust Indonesia’s claim.

Categories
Press Releases

15 November 2019 : Group Lease announces net profit of 9.51 million in 3Q2019, decline in non-performing loans, and fully repaid Thai bond

Group Lease announces net profit of 9.51 million in 3Q2019, decline in non-performing loans, and fully repaid Thai bond

15 Nov 2019

Group Lease Public Company Limited reported 3Q2019 net profit of 9.51 million baht as the Company incurred high legal related costs and reduced revenue as the Company focused on higher quality borrowers

Mr. Alain Jean Pascal Dufes, Chief Financial Officer of Group Lease Public Company Limited, revealed that “the Company had profit of 9.51 million in 3Q2019, a decline compared to 3Q2018, due to our smaller business size as we focus on good borrowers and deal with high legal costs in Thailand and Singapore. Revenue declined by 117 million or 16% compared to 3Q2018 as we reduced our business in every country except Myanmar, which continues to have almost no NPL. We did have a large increase in professional fees, 29 million more than a year ago for a total of more than 55 million, and had a 15 million negative adjustment related loss on exchange rate. Those two items total 70 million and are the primary reason for our poor performance this quarter. The legal fees will continue in the near future as we fight legal battles in multiple countries.”

Mr. Tatsuya Konoshita, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lease Public Company Limited, stated that “we have continued to maintain profitability even in the face of lawsuits and reorganizing our business to be higher quality. For the lawsuits, we have nearly finished the case in Singapore and the trial in Thailand is currently ongoing. Legal cases in both are moving forward and we are starting to see an end in sight where we can start to fight back for damages. For our business, we have seen the improvements in NPL that we expected, confirming that our strategy to improve quality is working. We will start to grow more using this strategy, which should provide us with both improved growth and quality. Additionally, our most recent product, Bajaj, is continuing to grow well in both Cambodia and Myanmar.

Another important item to highlight this quarter is that we repaid our Thai bond for 1,500 million baht without incurring any new debt. As we have stated repeatedly, we have the ability to pay our creditors and we did. We have always repaid our debts on time.

Overall, business is going as expected with the lawsuits progressing and us starting to grow the business with higher quality by the end of the year. We are optimistic about the challenges we face and we look forward to achieving successes for our shareholders and employees.”

 

Categories
Press Releases

15 August 2019 : Group Lease announces net loss in 2Q2019, success at The Bankruptcy Court of Thailand, and expects growth starting late this year

Group Lease announces net loss in 2Q2019, success at The Bankruptcy Court of Thailand, and expects growth starting late this year

15 Aug 2019

Group Lease Public Company Limited reported 2Q2019 net loss of 1.80 million baht as the Company incurred higher legal related costs and a one-time accounting adjustment and also had the bankruptcy claim against the Company dismissed

Mr. Alain Jean Pascal Dufes, Chief Financial Officer of Group Lease Public Company Limited, revealed that “the Company lost 1.80 million in 2Q2019 mostly due to non-core operations. Revenue declined by 89 million or 12.1% compared to 2Q2018 and we partially offset this reduction by continuing to reduce our service and administration expense by 59 million or 18.0%, excluding additional legal fees. We did have a large increase in professional fees, 31 million more than a year ago, and had a 59 million negative adjustment related to IFRS 9 for our investment in associate in Sri Lanka. Those two items total 90 million and are the primary reason for our poor performance this quarter. The accounting adjustment is a one-time event and legal fees were unfortunately unavoidable as we continue to fight legal battles in multiple countries. In Thailand we had additional legal expense due to the bankruptcy case and preparing for the Singapore trial.”

Mr. Tatsuya Konoshita, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lease Public Company Limited, stated that “we continue to make significant progress in both protecting our business and restructuring it for future growth. We have worked diligently on legal and accounting matters to make sure on both of those fronts we protect our shareholders. We have increased our cash to more than 4,378 million to allow for business flexibility while still being able to meet any of our obligations in the short-term. This buildup of cash also served the purpose of helping us reduce our portfolio while we retool our credit criteria and seek a higher quality portfolio. I know some of our shareholders will be disappointed in our 2nd quarter result and for that I am sorry, but our sales decline was a tough choice we made in order to reduce our portfolio in Thailand and Cambodia to prepare for the economic uncertainly in those two markets, to get better control of the portfolio, and prepare for the next expansion starting late this year. Now we have seen improvements in portfolio performance across our company and now, coupled with our increased cash balance, are well positioned to lend to higher quality customers and expand our business.

As our CFO pointed out, we had high legal related fees this quarter which reduced our profitability. While we wish we did not have to fight in the courts, we must protect our shareholders and employees so we will have to bear these are costs for now. Today we did find out that some of these costs are already paying off—The Bankruptcy Court of Thailand ruled that GL is no longer under rehabilitation proceedings and is out of “automatic stay” as the Court dismissed the rehabilitation petition against us. The Court found that JTrust’s claim of our debt amount was unclear as their Civil claim against us has not yet completed and that GL is not insolvent as the Company currently has more assets than liabilities.”

Overall, we expect growth and seeking higher quality by the end of the year. We are optimistic about the challenges we face and we look forward to achieving successes for our shareholders and employees.

Categories
Press Releases

31 July 2019 : GL grants scholarships for sons – daughters of employees of the year 2019

GL grants scholarships for sons - daughters of employees of the year 2019

31 Jul 2019

Group Lease Public Company Limited (GL) led by Mr. Tatsuya Konoshita, Chief Executive Officer together with Mr. Muneo Tashiro, Director, presided over GL scholarship granting ceremony 2019 at GL head office, Bangkok. For this year, GL grants scholarship to sons and daughters of employees of the company to 35 students were from the Elementary School level, 12 from Secondary School level, 3 from Senior High School, 7 from the undergraduate level, with the total of 57 scholarships worth 765,000 baht. To praised all the scholars for their achievements and urged them to dream big and to keep pursuing their dreams. By the scholarship award comprised of tuition fees support and stationeries for all the awardees since its inception in 2007.

Categories
Press Releases

19 June 2019 : SET announces Group Lease to join the SET CLMV and SET sSET indices

SET announces Group Lease to join the SET CLMV and SET sSET indices

19 Jun 2019

Group Lease Public Company Limited joins the SET CLMV and SET sSET indices in recognition of its strong financial position throughout Southeast Asia and active share liquidity

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) announced the results of its semi-annual index review and added Group Lease PCL (GL) to the SETCLMV index, referring to SET companies who have a significant presence in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, or Vietnam (CLMV). To be selected for the CLMV index, a company must have at least 10% of annual revenues or at least revenue of THB 100 million from a CLMV country and must have a market cap of at least THB 5 billion, in addition to a few other free-float and trading requirements. GL presently has a market cap of more than THB 10 billion.

Mr. Alain Jean Pascal Dufes, Chief Financial Officer of Group Lease Public Company Limited, stated that “in 2018, 19% of GL revenue came from Cambodia, 8% from Myanmar and 5% from Laos for a total of roughly 32%, or more than THB 900 million, from CLMV countries. The remaining 68% of GL revenue was from Thailand (64%) and Indonesia (4%). We expect in the long run for GL’s CLMV revenue to continue to grow and become a larger portion of our company, even though Thailand will likely remain our largest single market for the foreseeable future.”

Mr. Tatsuya Konoshita, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lease Public Company Limited, stated “we are pleased that the SET has taken the initiative to help investors in the Thai market identify companies that are leveraging Thailand’s location and market to expand into nearby growing economies, as well as help Thai investors diversify their exposure from Thailand to more of Southeast Asia focus, all while under the good governance and familiar regulations of the SET.”

Additionally, GL joined the sSET index, which is used to reflect the price movement of shares that have active, consistent trading liquidity in order to serve as a benchmark for the Thai market. GL is pleased the SET picked us to help represent the Thai stock market.

Overall, we are elated to share this news with our shareholders, stakeholders, employees, and the market. Our inclusion into these indices should make our stock more attractive and provide more confidence in us to investors. This is another example of GL continuing to earn the trust of the SET and our regulators in Thailand. We are proud they are willing to showcase us in their indices and look forward to continuing to work with them.

Categories
Press Releases

16 May 2019 : Group Lease announces unqualified opinion by KPMG and profitable 1Q2019 performance

Group Lease announces unqualified opinion by KPMG and profitable 1Q2019 performance

16 May 2019

Group Lease Public Company Limited reported 1Q2019 net profit of 111.81 million baht, an increase of 5.0% compared to 1Q2018 as the Company incurred lower operating costs due to improves in efficiency

Mr. Alain Jean Pascal Dufes, Chief Financial Officer of Group Lease Public Company Limited, revealed that “the Company earned 111.81 million in 1Q2019 – an improvement of 5 million from last year. While revenue declined by 31 million or 4.4% compared to 1Q2018, we were able to offset this reduction by reducing our service and administration expense by 33 million or 10.1%. Our profitable result still included more than 19 million in legal expense, but this was also an improvement compared to first quarter last year when we spent 30 million.”

Mr. Tatsuya Konoshita, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lease Public Company Limited, stated that “based on the work we have done with the regulators, lawyers, and auditors, we are pleased to have a clean, unqualified opinion on our financial result from KPMG. Legally, we are still in litigation with one of our former partners and in Indonesia we recently got their claim against us dismissed. Another important legal matter we achieved was that we won the right to enforce our collateral of land in Brazil in regards to one of the disputed loan receivables that we set up an allowance for in 2017. In late 2017, we received a Deloitte valuation of that land in Brazil which had the value at roughly USD $30 million. We will continue to take action to receive repayment from the borrowers including enforcing the collateral if necessary as we have started to do. Also, profit from our Sri Lankan associate has increased two quarters in a row including a 62% increase compared to last quarter, so we are happy to see Sri Lanka start to improve as we expected.”

“Overall, we continue to improve our financial and legal standing. Our business is improving in profit and efficiency while at the same time achieving success in accounting and legal matters. We are optimistic about this year and we look forward to delivering more successes to our shareholders and employees”, Mr. Konoshita concluded.

LINK-GL Business group

Related Link

Copyright © 2021 Group Lease Public Company Limited. by . All rights reserved. | Sitemap