L&T Finance Holdings saw its fourth quarter consolidated net profit rise 9.35 per cent to ₹187 crore, from ₹171 crore a year ago. The non-banking finance company’s income grew 25 per cent during the quarter to ₹1,400 crore.

The board of directors has recommended a dividend of ₹0.75 per equity share of ₹10 each.

Loans and advances grew 20 per cent to ₹40,080 crore as on March 31, 2014, compared with ₹33,310 a year ago, and by six per cent quarter-on-quarter.

This has been driven by focussing on rural, vehicle and housing finance segments in retail business, and pursuing operational assets in the wholesale business,” the company said in a statement.

Rising Bad Loans

Gross non-performing assets of the company accelerated to 3.18 per cent (2.03 per cent in Q4 FY13) and net non-performing assets zoomed to 2.29 per cent (1.26 per cent) reflecting a prolonged slowdown in the economic activity in areas where the company is present in.

N Sivaraman, President and whole-time director, L&T Finance Holdings, said: “The rise in NPAs has been on account of two accounts in the wholesale category.”

When asked what the company is doing to put a lid on NPAs, Sivaraman said, “We are a part of the consortium of banks. We will try to revive those assets or sell them.” He did not specify on any timeline for selling those assets.

“While growth may be slightly muted in FY15, we expect to maintain overall book growth at 15-20 per cent,” the company said in a statement.

comment COMMENT NOW