Mortgage lender LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LIC HFL) reported a tepid 4 per cent rise in net profit today at Rs 322.13 crore, in the three months to June, after a Rs 32.21 crore deferred tax liability ate into its bottomline.
The company's net profit stood at Rs 310.51 crore in the year-ago period.
"We had a good performance especially in June, where business growth was 22 per cent. During the quarter our focus was on increasing distribution capacity," LIC HFL Managing Director and Chief Executive Sunita Sharma told reporters.
However, she said that higher borrowing cost had some impact on the profit during the period.
"In first two months, bond market was nearly inaccessible to us because of regulatory issues. As we had to borrow at higher level from banks, there was pressure on profits," Sharma said.
Net interest margins stood at 2.19 per cent in the period as against 2.30 per cent last year.
Total income stood at Rs 2,544 crore, up 17 per cent as against Rs 2,178 crore.
Net interest income rose 11 per cent to Rs 506 crore in the quarter from Rs 455 crore.
Total gross non performing assets (GNPAs) remained steady at 0.80 per cent, with GNPAs in individual segments at 0.40 per cent, as against 0.51 per cent same period last year.
Net NPAs improved to 0.49 per cent in the quarter from 0.52 per cent in the year-ago period.
The outstanding mortgage portfolio grew 17 per cent to Rs 93,609 crore from Rs 80,137 crore.
The individual loan portfolio also grew 17 per cent to Rs 91,059 crore from Rs 77,727 crore last year same quarter.
Developer loan portfolio stood at Rs 2,551 crore as against Rs 2,410 crore as on June 30, 2013.
LIC HFL is looking at a portfolio growth of 20 per cent in individual segment but it will remain cautious towards lending to developers, Sharma said.
"There has been a positive sentiments among the home buyers. We look forward for very good year ahead as more and more end-user are likely to enter into the market," she said.
LICHFL's scrip ended at nearly 5 per cent down at Rs 296.35 on the BSE today.
The mortgage lender said it has acquired some of the properties, of real estate developer Orbit Corporation for defaulting on loans, under the SARFAESI Act.
