Poonawalla Fincorp net profit jumps 76% to Rs 265 crore in December quarter

Non-bank lender Poonawalla Fincorp, focused on consumer and small business finance, on Thursday said its net profit rose 76 per cent to Rs 265 crore for the December quarter on higher disbursement and better asset quality.

The Pune-based firm said the quarter saw the highest-ever profit, led by the highest-ever quarterly disbursements of Rs 8,731 crore, about 159 per cent higher against the year-ago period. This had the loan book jumping 58 per cent to Rs 21,946 crore.

Despite the overall higher interest rate regime, Poonawalla Fincorp managing director Abhay Bhutada said their net interest margin rose 33 bps to 11.02 per cent while operating expenses to loan book/AUM stood at 4 per cent, an improvement of 206 bps year-on-year.

On the asset quality front, the Cyrus Poonawalla group firm said its gross NPAs came down by 36 bps to 1.33 per cent, while net NPAs declined by 19 bps to 0.70 per cent in the reporting quarter.

Its capital adequacy ratio stood at 38.2 per cent, with a liquidity buffer of Rs 2,973 crore, Bhutada said.