SINGAPORE - Sing Investments & Finance has reported a 31.2 per cent drop in first quarter net profit to $2.6 million.

This was despite revenue rising 7.7 per cent to $13.6 million for the three months to March 31.

Net interest income and hiring charges fell by 5.3 per cent to $8.1 million, as the increase in interest income and hiring charges of 7.7 per cent was more than offset by the 34.1 per cent jump in interest expense.

The rise in interest expense was due to increase in cost of funds and an expanded deposit base.

Other income increased by 30.5 per cent while operating expenses declined by a marginal 0.8 per cent.

Loans and advances increased by 7.6 per cent or $128.6 million to $1.82 billion.

The weaker performance at the bottomline was attributable to a compression of interest margin from a higher cost of funds and net allowances for impairment losses made as against a write-back in the previous corresponding period.

In line with the loan growth, the group has set aside additional collective impairment allowances at a portfolio level.

The additional collective impairment allowances mainly accounted for the charge of $1.3 million in loan allowances for the quarter as compared to a write-back of $10,000 in the same period last year.

The group continues to maintain adequate individual and collective impairment allowances in respect of its loan portfolio.

Annualised earnings per share slipped to 6.59 cents from 9.57 cents previously while net asset value per share firmed to $2 compared to $1.99 as at Dec 31.

Given the expected moderate economic growth and impact of the cooling measures and the weak demand in the property sector, the group will continue to seek new businesses and grow its loan portfolio prudently.