HK Mortgage Corp Records Lower Operating Profits in 2000The audited financial results of the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited (HKMC) show that its operating profit after tax for 2000 was 233.1 million HK dollars (US$29.9 million), a reduction of or 14.1 percent over the previous year.However, the corporation's total assets increased by 6.2 percent, from 13.98 billion HK dollars (US$1.79 billion) to 14.84 billion HK dollars (US$1.9 billion) in 2000, the HKMC said when releasing the financial results Thursday. The HKMC has reached agreement with the Hong Kong Housing Authority to purchase a total of 17 billion HK dollars (US$2.18 billion) to 18 billion HK dollars (US$2.31 billion) of mortgage loans originated under the Home Purchase Loan Scheme from the Authority before September 2002. The Mortgage Insurance Program (MIP) has gained wider acceptance by home buyers as evidenced by a rising trend in the number of applications. The corporation received a total of 5,223 applications from 36 approved sellers in 2000, involving a total mortgage amount of 10.4 billion HK dollars (US$1.33 billion), compared with 2,150 applications and total mortgage amount of 4.4 billion HK dollars (US$564 million) in 1999. The HKMC is one of the most active debt issuers in the local capital market. During the year, the HKMC launched 11 debt issues to raise a total of 6.6 billion HK dollars (US$846 million) under its Note Issuance Program and Debt Issuance Program. As at December 31, 2000, the total outstanding balance of debts under the two programs was 11.6 billion HK dollars (US$1.49 billion). |
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