Home Capital Group Inc HCG.TO :
* HOME CAPITAL ANNOUNCES FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR 2018 RESULTS
* Q4 EARNINGS PER SHARE C$0.46
* Q4 EARNINGS PER SHARE ESTIMATE C$0.43 -- REFINITIV IBES DATA
* QTRLY MORTGAGE ORIGINATIONS WERE $1.61 BILLION, AN INCREASE OF $742.1 MILLION OR 85.1%
* QTRLY NET INTEREST MARGIN WAS 1.99% COMPARED WITH 2.02% IN 2017
* RETURN ON EQUITY FOR QUARTER (ANNUALIZED) WAS 8.1% COMPARED WITH 6.8% IN 2017
* QTRLY PROVISIONS FOR CREDIT LOSSES WERE $3.9 MILLION OR 0.10% OF GROSS LOANS
* HOME CAPITAL IS READY TO TAKE NEXT STEP IN UPGRADING ITS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE
* EXPECTS THAT EARLY SIGNS OF STABILIZATION IN CANADIAN REAL ESTATE MARKET WILL PERSIST FOR MUCH OF 2019
* HOME CAPITAL GROUP - EMBARKING ON MULTI-YEAR INVESTMENT INITIATIVE THAT WILL INCLUDE UPGRADE OF CORE BANKING SYSTEM, AMONG OTHERS
* BOARD CONTINUES TO REVIEW VARIOUS OPTIONS FOR DEPLOYMENT OF CAPITAL
* EXPECTS THAT EARLY SIGNS OF STABILIZATION IN CANADIAN REAL ESTATE MARKET WILL PERSIST FOR MUCH OF 2019
* TOTAL ASSETS UNDER ADMINISTRATION AT QUARTER-END $24.68 BILLION
* HOME CAPITAL GROUP - QTRLY NET INTEREST INCOME $90.3 MILLION VERSUS $91.7 MILLION