Good demand ups Dewan Housing Q4 net by 55%

Mortgage lender Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL) today posted a 55.6 per cent jump in its net profit for the March quarter at Rs 41.75 crore compared to Rs 26.84 crore in the same quarter last year on rising demand.

DHFL disbursed loans worth Rs 3,865.56 crore in FY10 as against Rs 2,240.54 crore in the previous year and has targeted to take the number to above Rs 5,000 crore in the current fiscal, vice-chairman & managing director Kapil Wadhawan said here today.

"The outlook for the current year is positive as the demand is picking up in line with the economic recovery. We expect to maintain 30 per cent growth in our disbursals this year," Wadhawan said.

At present, DHFL has a total asset-base of Rs 10,000 crore and it plans to grow this to Rs 25,000 crore over the next two-three years, he said. Currently, DHFL has a customer-base of around 2 lakh.

The lender, which has also plans to float a housing finance subsidiary targeting the low-income segment in a joint venture with International Finance Corporation, has already approached the National Housing Bank for approval, Wadhawan said. The joint venture, in which Dewan Housing will hold around 80 per cent stake, is expected to become operational in the first half of this fiscal, he said.

The JV, which would focus on states where low-income population is more, aims to disburse loans up to Rs 5 lakh and its target audience will be those with a monthly income of Rs 3,500-4,000.

The Kerala-based Muthoot Pappachan Group had also recently announced its plans to set up a home-loan subsidiary in the affordable housing segment.

Commenting on the capital raising plans, Wadhawan said DHFL has already secured the board approval to raise Rs 500 crore equity capital in the near future. The company plans to raise a total of Rs 5,000 crore in the current fiscal to support its business plans.