Dah Sing Financial posts 15.2pc profit growth, hit by mainland China impairments

Hong Kong’s Dah Sing Financial Holdings earned HK$1.73 billion in profits last year, up 15.2 per cent year on year, but its mainland operations were hit hard by impairment losses, the company said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Dah Sing Banking Group, a separate listed company of which Dah Sing Financial is the majority shareholder, said profits hit HK$2.03 billion last year, up 15.8 per cent.

Both listed companies are part of Dah Sing Group.

Along with peers in the Hong Kong banking sector, Dah Sing was hit hard by the economic slowdown on the mainland and the deterioration of assets there. Loan impairments at Dah Sing Financial soared to HK$473 million last year, 52.7 per cent more than in 2013.

Impairments at Dah Sing Financial’s overseas operations, which include subsidiaries in Macau and the mainland, soared by 164 per cent last year and the operations posted negative operating profits of HK$95.2 million, a significant deterioration from the HK$100.5 million in operating profits posted for 2013.

“Our mainland China business reported higher credit costs in part due to the continued slowdown in the mainland China economy,” the company said in its annual report for 2014.