Next quarter onwards, hope to see positive growth: PNB Housing Finance CEO

On the retail side, for eight quarters, our portfolio shrank, but this quarter has witnessed flat growth, said CEO Prasad

PNB Housing Finance is set to present its short and long-term capital requirements to the board, CEO Hardayal Prasad tells Nikunj Ohri. It is also looking to increase its presence in tier 2 and 3 cities to expand its affordable housing portfolio. Edited excerpts: 

Housing demand has picked up but your profit has declined by 25 per cent. Why? 

We decided to reduce our corporate book in 2019, which resulted in a decline of 44 per cent. This was a high-yielding book, but risky due to stress. Income has come down, but expenditure hasn’t. Interest rates started to decline, and that had