LIC Housing Finance Q1 Profit Jumps 43% To Rs 1,324 Crore

LIC Housing Finance on Thursday reported a 43 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 1,324 crore in the April-June quarter.
     
The housing finance subsidiary of LIC had posted a net profit of Rs 925 crore in the year-ago period.
     
The total income in the first quarter of the current fiscal rose to Rs 6,747 crore against Rs 5,291 crore, LIC Housing Finance said in a regulatory filing.
     
The lender's interest income also increased to Rs 6,704 crore from Rs 5,250 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
     
Net interest income of the mortgage firm increased to Rs 2,209 crore as compared to Rs 1,592 crore in the year-ago period.
     
On the asset quality side, the lender's gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) stood at 4.98 per cent of the gross advances in June 2023 over 4.96 per cent a year ago.
     
The net NPA declined marginally 2.99 per cent against 3.01 per cent in the year-ago period.
     
Tribhuwan Adhikari, the newly appointed managing director of LIC Housing Finance, said the jump in the bottom line was aided by high interest rate and keeping borrowing cost low.
     
Profit Before Tax for the quarter was Rs 1,649 crore as against Rs 1,140 crore in Q1 FY2023, a growth of 45 per cent.
     
He said the net interest margin has improved to 3.21 per cent as against 2.51 per cent at the end of the first quarter of FY23.
     
He said that the aim is to maintain a margin of this level for the entire financial year.
     
On the NPAs, he said, the company is working on bringing it down and there would be good improvement on this front.
     
"In the current financial year, our aim is to expand our branch network in newer geographies to match the increase in demand. We are seeing an uptick in all categories of segment. Overall business indicators are positive despite high interest rates in the
system," he said.