India's Bajaj Housing Finance posts Q2 profit rise on steady home loan demand

Bajaj Housing Finance

21/10/2024 13:39

Oct 21 (Reuters) - India's most valuable home loan
financier Bajaj Housing Finance  BAJO.NS  posted a 21% rise in
its second-quarter profit on Monday as demand for credit
remained robust.
    The company, a unit of non-bank lender Bajaj Finance
 BJFN.NS , reported its first quarterly earnings since its $782
million initial public offering in September that gathered
strong investor interest.
    Profit after tax rose to 5.46 billion rupees (nearly $65
million) for the three months ending Sept. 30 from 4.51 billion
rupees a year earlier. 
    Demand for houses is rising in the world's most-populous
country, boosting demand for home loans. 
    Residential real estate prices are set to rise steadily over
the next few years, driven by demand for premium properties,
which form a dominant part of Bajaj Housing Finance's business. 
      
    Its loan assets rose 27% year-on-year to 898.78 billion
rupees during the September quarter. Total assets under
management rose 26% to over 1 trillion rupees. 
    Net interest income, the difference between interest earned
and paid, rose 13% to 7.13 billion rupees.
    Asset quality worsened, with gross bad loans as a percentage
of total loans rising to 0.29% at the end of September, from
0.24% a year earlier.
    Bajaj Housing Finance's shares have fallen 17% since listing
and settled about 2% lower ahead of the results.
    Rivals PNB Housing Finance  PNBH.NS  and LIC Housing Finance
 LICH.NS  are expected to report second-quarter results on Oct.
24 and Oct. 28, respectively.
     

($1 = 84.0450 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
 ((Dimpal.Gulwani@thomsonreuters.com;))