Hinduja Leyland Finance sees gross income rising to Rs 2,000 cr this fiscal

Firm also hopes to double its AUM by fiscal-end, despite challenges in commercial vehicles market

Hinduja Leyland Finance Ltd (HLFL), the non-banking finance company (NBFC) of the Hinduja Group, expects its gross income during the current fiscal to grow to around Rs 2,000 crore. The company also hopes to double its assets under management by the end of the fiscal, despite the challenges in the commercial vehicles market.

Commenting on the company's growth prospects, S Nagarajan, executive vice chairman of HLFL said, "We are doing well. We will end the year with Rs 20,000 crore of asset under management, from around Rs 10,000 crore last year." The AUM during the period ended September this year stood at around Rs 15,000 crore.

In terms of gross income, the company is expecting around Rs 2,000 crore by the end of this fiscal year. The revenue of the company last fiscal year was around Rs 1,486 crore.

Almost 40 per cent of its portfolio is commercial vehicles, about 10 per cent each in two-wheelers, loans against propety and three-wheeler lending and the rest in used vehicles and other segments. It also finances tractors and construction equipment.

The wide exposure ensures that the growth is steady. This fiscal, the two-wheeler has fared well, three-wheeler is maintaining the momentum and the commercial vehicle business has also been good, said Nagarajan.

"The company has a wide portfolio. We are a small company and the market is big. For us growth is not an issue at all. We already have a footprint in about 1,500 locations in India," he said.

"The company may consider fund raising early next year, though the details are to be approved by the Board of Directors before commenting more on that," he added. The funds would be raised to meet growth capital requirement. HLFL also has a wholly-owned subsidiary in the affordable housing finance space and in the first year of operations this year its asset under management was around Rs 700 crore.

The Hinduja Group has increased its stake in the company as Everfin Holdings sold a portion of its stake on Thursday. According to reports, Everfin is part of the Everstone group. Nagarajan refused to comment on the development.

Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of the Hinduja Group, has entered into an agreement with Everfin Holdings to buy 4.68 per cent of the paid-up share capital of HLFL from the latter, with an investment of around Rs 225.4 crore. Hinduja Ventures has said that it is planning to acquire 0.43 per cent stake in HLFL from Everfin Holdings for a total acquisition cost of Rs 20.61 crore. Post stake sale, Everfin would have around seven per cent stake in the company. As on March 31, 2017, Everfin Holdings had 13.99 per cent stake in HLFL.