THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 20, 1994 TAG: 9407200452
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 27 lines
Finance companies' earnings from small loans targeted at poorer Virginians jumped by more than one-fifth last year, according to the State Corporation Commission. According to the SCC's most recent report on consumer finance companies, earnings from regulated small loans rose 21.7 percent last year, even though the total amount of such loans declined 7 percent. Finance companies' return on assets from small loans averaged 4 percent, about three times the return that big banks report on their assets, according to the commission's report. The earnings increase came despite a state-ordered rollback of rates for small loans in 1992. Virginia caps rates on loans of less than $3,500, with the maximum rate allowed on the first $800 of such loans set at 31 percent. The average size of small loans in Virginia is $1,500, and the average annual interest rate is 28 percent, according to the Virginia Financial Services Association. by CNB