HDFC Q1 net up 20% to Rs 296.8 cr

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), the leading mortgage lender, today reported a 20 per cent rise in net profit in the first quarter of 2006-07 as it managed to maintain its interest spread at 2.1 per cent amid rising cost of funds.

The net profit in the April-June 2006 quarter was Rs 296.82 crore, up from Rs 247.28 crore a year earlier.

On June 30, 2006, HDFC's loan portfolio (inclusive of investment in preference shares, debentures and inter-corporate deposits for financing real estate projects) was Rs 49,234 crore, a rise of 26 per cent from the year ago figure of Rs 39,081 crore.

The home loan provider's capital adequacy ratio on June 30 was 13.3 per cent with tier-I at 7.8 per cent. Its total assets grew 26 per cent to Rs 53,630 crore from Rs 42,691 last year.

HDFC said its approvals during the first quarter had risen 28 per cent to Rs 5,998 crore from Rs 4,628 crore and disbursements up 28 per cent to Rs 4,386 crore from Rs 3,437 crore in Q1FY06.

The company's income from operations for the quarter was Rs 1,245.72 crore, while the interest income was up 36.35 per cent to Rs 1,037.19 crore.

Its total expenditure is during the June 2006 quarter was Rs 866.08 crore (Rs 801.41 crore was interest and other charges). HDFC's interest and other charges were up 41.37 per cent y-o-y, an indication of the rise in cost of funds.

HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh said the company's fee income had declined as competition forced it to partly sacrifice administrative and processing charges.