ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Dialog Finance Plc, a unit of Dialog Axiata said it had been hit by ‘external financial fraud’ for which 29.9 million rupees had been provided.
“The Company has identified a case of external financial fraud in June 2024 and steps were taken to immediately recover a portion of funds,” Dialog Finance told shareholders it its interim accounts.
“The Company has initiated legal action as per the advice of external legal counsel and currently working with law enforcement authorities to recover the remaining funds.
“In response to this incident, the Company has enhanced its transaction monitoring processes and has implemented measures to educate customers on safeguarding their accounts against unauthorized third-party access.”
There was 41.4 million rupees still to be recovered, and a provision has been made for 29.9 million rupees.
The company has placed 11.5 million rupees as ‘other assets’ which could be recovered.
“As of the reporting date, the investigation and recovery efforts are ongoing,” Dialog Finance said.
“The Company will continue to monitor the progress of these actions and will assess the recoverability of the outstanding receivables recognised at each reporting date.”
Dialog Finance reported after tax profits of 6.0 million rupees after a 20 million deferred tax expense in the March 2025 quarter, compared to a loss of 32 million rupees a year ago.
Interest income grew 46 percent to 344 million rupees, interest expenses grew 5 percent to 79 million rupees and net interest income grew 65 percent to 264 million rupees.
Fee and commission income was 169 million rupees, up from 12.9 million rupees. (Colombo/May09/2025)
