PNB Housing Finance's net profit down 15% at Rs 313 crore in Q2 FY21

PNB Housing Finance’s net profit down 15% at Rs 313 crore in Q2 FY21

NEW DELHI: PNB Housing Finance on Wednesday reported a 15 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 313 crore for the quarter ended September. The housing finance company had posted a net profit of Rs 367 crore during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Total revenue during the July-September period of FY21 declined by 9 per cent at Rs 2,022 crore, as against Rs 2,230 crore in the same period of 2019-20, PNB Housing Finance said in a statement.

Net interest margin stood at 3.5 per cent as compared to 3.2 per cent earlier, while the gross margin (net of acquisition cost) stood at 3.5 per cent as against 3.4 per cent a year earlier.

The company, promoted by state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB), said the PNB board has decided to infuse capital of up to Rs 600 crore in PNB Housing Finance through preferential issue/rights issue, subject to regulatory approvals.

The board of PNB Housing has approved capital raise of up to Rs 1,800 crore through preferential/rights issue, it said further.

On asset quality, the company’s gross non-performing assets (NPA) were at 2.20 per cent at AUM level and 2.59 per cent at loan assets level as on September 30, 2020. Net NPA stood at 1.46 per cent of the loan assets, it said.

The company said it disbursed Rs 2,444 crore in Q2 FY21 as compared to Rs 4,969 crore in the year-ago period and Rs 694 crore in the preceding quarter ended June 2020.

The disbursements during the quarter witnessed gradual pick up, primarily in the retail segment, and has reached 86 per cent of pre COVID-19 levels, it said.

Asset under management (AUM) stood at Rs 81,221 crore at the end of the second quarter, down from Rs 89,471 crore in the year-ago period.

Loan assets stood at Rs 66,951 crore, against Rs 74,353 crore earlier.

Company’s total borrowings stood at Rs 66,237 crore, down by 7 per cent from a year ago.

“With the opening of the economy we are witnessing an increasing trend in retail disbursement and have reached 88 per cent of the pre COVID-19 numbers.

“The measures undertaken by the company around provisioning and retail business led to a robust balance sheet with total provision to total asset at 2.99 per cent, CRAR (capital to risk weighted assets ratio) at 18.66 per cent…,” the firm’s Managing Director and CEO Hardayal Prasad said.

The company would continue to focus on disbursing lower risk weighted retail assets, enhance recovery and cost rationalisation to create value for its stakeholders, Prasad added.

PNB Housing Finance stock closed at Rs 351.20 apiece on BSE, down 0.21 per cent from its previous close.