February 4: Fifteen finance companies listed in Nepal Stock Exchange Limited (NEPSE), the secondary market of securities, have released their second quarter financial statements for the current fiscal year (FY) 2023/24.

According to the financial statements, 10 finance companies have made profit while the remaining five companies suffered losses during the review period.

Samriddhi Finance Company, Central Finance, Reliance Finance, Progressive Finance and Guheswari Merchant Banking and Finance Company are in losses. Among these five companies, Progressive Finance incurred the highest loss at Rs 105.7 million. In the current fiscal year, Progressive Finance's net interest income and operating profit decreased while the bad loans increased. The bad debt of this company was 4.91 percent in the second quarter of last year, but it has increased to 11.45 percent in the same period of the current fiscal year.

The non-performing loans (NPLs) of almost all finance companies increased, according to the second quarter financial statements. Like commercial and development banks, NPLs of finance companies have also increased. Because of bad debts, the profits of finance companies have been compromised due to the provisioning of a large amount of income.

The recent economic recession in the country is having a great impact on business. Borrowers have not been able to repay their loans on time. As a result, bad loans have increased. Among the 15 finance companies, Gorkhaz Finance, Manjushree Finance, ICFC Finance, Pokhara Finance, Goodwill Finance, Multipurpose Finance, Best Finance, Janaki Finance, Nepal Finance and Shree Investment and Finance are in profit. Among these 10 profitable finance companies, Gorkhaz Finance has earned the highest net profit of Rs 121.6 million. Nepal Finance made the lowest net profit of Rs. 812,000 thousand in the review period.