(Australia) – GE Capital Finance Australasia has experienced a whopping A$45.6 million reversal in its 2002 year, driven by the performance of its consumer finance business.GE Capital’s consumer unit purchased Australian Guarantee Corp from Westpac Banking Corporation in May of last year and has caused the Group to record a pre-tax loss of A$16.5 million, compared with a pre-tax profit of A$29.1 million the year before, driving an after-tax loss of A$47.1 million, relative to A$7.3 million a net profit in 2001. GE Capital Finance spent a net A$1.2 billion in its transaction with Westpac more than doubling the size of its balance sheet, with loans total assets climbing to A$16.0 billion in 2002 from $6.0 billion.
The consumer finance unit has recorded a widening loss after tax of A$89.4 million in 2002, from a loss of $24.7 million in 2001, its commercial finance coming in with a net profit of A$25.6 million, doubling from A$11.2 million in 2001, insurance business in at A$16.6 million, a drop from its 2001 A$20.9 million. Bad debts doubled to A$245 million from A$112 million.