In the context of a factory method in the class lcl_class, which properties are correct?

In the context of a factory method defined within a class (in this case, lcl_class), the statement about the returning parameter having the type REF TO lcl_class is correct.

A factory method is designed to instantiate objects of a certain class. In ABAP, returning an instance of a class or a reference to a class is commonly done through the use of reference types. Therefore, specifying the returning parameter as REF TO lcl_class indicates that the method will return a reference to an object of type lcl_class, thus enabling the caller to interact with the created objects and their methods.

While it is common for factory methods to not require any importing parameters, they may sometimes include them to customize the creation process. Furthermore, factory methods can be implemented as instance methods or static methods, which means they can be either public or private, depending on the design requirements. Hence, the nature of the method can vary, but the requirement for it to return a reference to the class instance remains a core characteristic of factory methods.