** Home First Finance Company India HOME.NS up 5%, Aadhar Housing Finance AADA.NS up 1.3%
** Aptus Value Housing Finance India APTS.NS gains 1.4%, PNB Housing Finance PNBH.NS inches up 0.3%
** Aavas Financiers AVAS.NS down 0.5%
** Bernstein initiates coverage on affordable housing financiers, with "outperform" ratings on HOME, APTS, and AADA, and "market-perform" on AVAS and PNBH
** Expects next leg of retail credit growth to be led by mortgages - Bernstein
** "Specialised lenders focused on low-income, informally employed borrowers.. stand to gain share in this segment"; "The segment remains attractive with good profitability and growth" - note
** YTD HOME and APTS up 36% and ~19% respectively, AADA rises 8%
** PNBH and AVAS gains ~26% and ~17% so far in 2025
(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)
((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com;))