Home Capital Group Inc. is reporting a 50% jump in profit for the third-quarter ended September 30. The company has reported quarter-over-quarter increases in earnings for 33 consecutive quarters.

Net earnings increased 50.2% to $7.9 million for the third quarter, compared with $5.3 million for the same quarter in 2002.

Total assets were $1.76 billion at September 30. This represents growth of 34% over total assets one year earlier, and 8.9% over total assets at June 30, 2003.

Return on equity for the third quarter was 28.8%, compared to 24.1% for the same period in 2002; and 26.6% for the first nine months of 2003.

Home Capital Group is the holding company, of Home Trust Co.

The company says the growth of its core residential mortgage business has been enhanced through the first nine months of 2003. The total value of new mortgages advanced during this period was $765.2 million, compared with $453 million during the same nine months last year, representing an increase of more than 65%.

The company says that while its performance has been supported by the strength of new housing construction and continued low interest rates in Canada, it is primarily a reflection of the continuing success of Home Capital’s increased market penetration.

In a separate release, Home Capital says it has been cited in an investment research study as “the best ‘franchise’ in the Canadian financial services industry, bar none.”

The research study, conducted by Sprott Securities Inc., examined 50 of Canada’s top financial services companies, including asset management, banking, insurance, capital markets, diversified financials and non-bank lending companies. The major criteria for ranking these institutions were return on equity, consistency of earnings (as measured by standard deviation), and earnings retention rates.

Based on these criteria, Home Capital emerged in the study as the best franchise in the industry, followed by the Bank of Nova Scotia, Manulife, Power Financial, Great West Life, Canadian Western Bank and RBC Financial Group.

“We are very pleased that Home Capital’s long-term earnings performance, continuing earnings stability and strong potential for growth have been recognized in the Sprott study,” said Gerald Soloway, president and CEO of Home Capital Group, in a news release.