BSP Finance performed well despite Covid-19 pandemic: Exec

By DALE LUMA
BANK South Pacific (BSP) Finance made good progress in the country but some of its customers have been impacted by the continued closure of the Porgera gold mine, general manager Andy Roberts says.
BSP Finance is the wholly owned subsidiary of Bank South Pacific Financial Group Ltd (BSP) which specialises in providing asset finance to commercial customers and consumers.
Roberts said, however, business had been good this year despite the continuing presence of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, especially from its Fiji and Asian businesses.
“Despite this (Covid-19), we have been able to grow our customer base and workforce,” Roberts told The National.
“In Fiji and Solomon Islands, border closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic held back growth in our loan book. In Papua New Guinea, we made good progress however some customers were affected by continued closure of Porgera and through other major project delays.
“In PNG, we have continued to expand our consumer footprint through our corporate novated lease products and consumer vehicle loan (CVL).
“A novated lease is a finance arrangement used with salary packaging.
“It means that an employer pays for an employee’s car lease and car running costs out of his or her salary package through a combination of pre-tax and post-tax salary deductions.
“The CVL in particular has been redesigned to give everyone with a job the opportunity to own a family vehicle.
“We have made it simple and easy to apply and reduced our deposit requirements to make the dream of owning a car more accessible.”
Apart from CVL and novated lease, BSP Finance offers commercial loans for small and medium sized businesses looking to grow.
“We finance all types of trucks, vehicles and equipment for businesses of every size.
“Whilst 2022 will still pose ongoing challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic and the economy in general, we are looking forward to continue helping our customers to grow.”