By IANS,
Prague : Czech consumer finance provider Home Credit plans to invest over 100 million euros (about $77 million) in India, China and Vietnam and in expanding its activities in new markets like Indonesia and the Philippines over the next two years, the company announced.
The new investment plan follows Home Credit’s investments of over 300 million euros (about $230 million) in Asia so far. The group plans to launch activities in Indonesia in the first quarter of 2013, with the Philippines to follow in the second half of 2014, reported Xinhua.
Home Credit was established in the Czech Republic by the PPF Group in 1997 and launched activities in Europe in the same year, and it has so far served more than 28.5 million customers in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Russian Federation, Belarus and Kazakhstan. It also has 2.5 million customers across China, Vietnam and India.
The company has granted over 900 million euros (about $690 million) in consumer finance loans to individuals in Asia since 2009.
Home Credit plans to raise the number of its outlets across Asia from over 12,000 at the beginning of 2012 to a projected 25,000 by the end of the year.
The group currently employs more than 8,000 people across its Asian markets. It started to operate in the Asian market in 2004 when it opened a representative office in Beijing.
In India, Home Credit launched pilot operations in New Delhi and the National Capital Region in January 2012.
Home Credit B.V. is fully owned by PPF Group which is one of the largest investment and financial groups in Central and Eastern Europe with assets worth around 12.7 billion euros (about $16.5 billion) under management.