India's Bajaj Housing falls on valuation, margin concerns despite profit growth

Bajaj Housing Finance

Mon 07:50

** Bajaj Housing Finance BAJO.NS shares fall 1.3% to 82.26 rupees
** Co reports a 17.7% rise in second-quarter profit 
** Revenue from operations rises to 32.51 billion rupees  ($343.08 million), up from 27.48 billion rupees a year earlier
** However, HSBC retains 'Reduce' rating on stock, citing expensive valuations, sustained pressure on growth and profitability
** J.P. Morgan says if large banks were to intensify competition, it would likely have a negative read-through for prime mortgage businesses 
** J.P. Morgan maintains a "Neutral" rating, saying new loans are being issued at lower rates than maturing loans, which is likely to reduce spreads and net interest margins by 3-4 basis points sequentially
** Six of 16 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 6 "hold" and 4 "sell" or lower; their median PT is 93.5 rupees
** YTD, BAJO down 12.8%


($1 = 94.7600 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru)
 ((Abhinav.Parmar@thomsonreuters.com;))