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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced the results of the survey on credit card lending for the first quarter of 2012.
Total card receivables decreased by 4.8% to HK$95.6 billion in the first quarter of 2012, after increasing 10.9% in the fourth quarter of 2011. The decrease was mainly due to the receding effect of festive spending around the year end and the payment of salaries tax using credit cards. The total number of credit card accounts increased by 2.4% to 15.4 million.
The rollover amount, which reflects the amount of borrowing by customers using their credit cards, fell by 0.6% during the quarter.
The charge-off amount rose from HK$360 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 to HK$390 million in the first quarter of 2012 (or around 0.4% of average receivables). The quarterly annualised* charge-off ratio rose to 1.59% compared with 1.51% in the previous quarter.
The amount of rescheduled receivables transferred outside the surveyed institutions' credit card portfolios increased slightly to HK$68 million from HK$67 million in the previous quarter.
The delinquent amount increased to HK$204 million at end-March 2012 from HK$188 million at end-December 2011. Correspondingly, the delinquency ratio increased to 0.21% from 0.19% at end-December 2011. The combined delinquent and rescheduled ratio (after taking into account the transfer of rescheduled receivables mentioned above) rose to 0.28%.
* This assumes the quarterly rate of charge-off is maintained for the next three quarters.
Ends/Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:30
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