Bajaj Finance net up 20% on higher retail, SME lending

PTI Updated - July 16, 2014 at 05:55 PM.

Bajaj Finance today reported 20 per cent jump in the June quarter net profit at Rs 211 crore on the back of jump in deployments to consumers and small businesses.

The Pune headquartered non-banking company said there was 48 per cent rise in deployments during the quarter at Rs 9,266 crore.

Chief Executive Rajeev Jain attributed the good set of numbers partly to seasonal factors, saying the first and the third quarters are generally busy for the company.

The deployment growth was led primarily by the small and medium enterprises and consumer segments, which grew 54 per cent and 48 per cent, respectively.

Its total income was up 34 per cent to Rs 1,246 crore while profit before tax jumped 20 per cent to Rs 321 crore.

Jain said the gross non-performing assets ratio was largely flat at 1.13 per cent, while the net non-performing assets ratio marginally improved to 0.27 per cent.

An accelerated provision of Rs 10 crore resulted in the loan loss provisions going up to Rs 83 crore from Rs 60 crore last year, Jain said.

The accelerated provision is for assets which the company feels might turn bad in the coming quarter and is a prudent practice adopted by it, he said, adding this shall get utilised in the next two quarters.

The company’s total capital adequacy ratio stood at 18 per cent while it may be going in for a round of capital raising in early next fiscal, Jain said.

However, he did not elaborate, saying it is very early to comment.

On the regular funding for on-lending activities front, he said there was some benefit as the rates eased by up to 0.25 per cent during the quarter, but was quick to add that the margins did not benefit much through this as the benefit was felt in short-term funds, which account only for 10-12 per cent of its funding.

The company’s scrip gained 0.09 per cent to close at Rs 2,186.70 apiece on the BSE, whose 30-share benchmark Sensex ended the session with gains of 1.27 per cent.

Published on July 16, 2014 12:24