L&T Fin Q1 net up 15% at Rs 192 cr

L&T Finance Holdings on Thursday reported a 15 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 192 crore in the quarter ended June 30, on account of improved margins and stable operational expenses.

The company had reported a consolidated profit of Rs 167 crore in the corresponding period last year without the exceptional item.

“The company saw improvements in margins and we were also able to maintain our operational expenses,” N Sivaraman, L&T Finance Holdings president and whole-time director, said. “All profit numbers we are talking about today are profit without the exceptional items. We were about Rs 167 crore in the first quarter of the last year without these exceptional items.”

Net interest margins for the lending business grew 22 per cent to Rs 681 crore (5.65 per cent) from Rs 558 crore (5.52 per cent) in the same period last year. Gross non-performing assets (GNPA) level with 180 days NPA recognition cycle stood at 2.64 per cent against 3.57 per cent in the year-ago quarter. Net NPA with 180 days NPA recognition cycle stood at 1.60 per cent compared to 2.67 per cent.

On the 150 days NPA recognition cycle, GNPA stood at 3.05 per cent while net NPA was at two per cent in the quarter. As on June 30, loans and advances grew 21 per cent to Rs 49,219 crore from Rs 40,764 crore in the same period last year.

The average assets under management of the investment management business grew by 12 per cent to Rs 22,213 crore, compared with Rs 19,895 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

When asked about the media reports about private equity firm Warburg Pincus buying a stake in L&T Finance, Sivaraman said, as a non-banking financial firm which requires periodic capital infusion, the company keeps meeting multiple investors. “The fact that we are running, on the aggregate 14-15 per cent tier-I capital, and if we meet growth expectation for current year and also believe next year is extremely strong, there is need to look at capital raising. In that context, we do have conversation with multiple investors for the purpose of raising capital. We continue to pursue these. There is nothing that is finalised on the ground in terms of size or the name of the investor as of now,” he said.

The company’s share price ended at Rs 71.55, down 1.99 per cent on the BSE, which closed on Thursday at 28,370.84, down 0.47 per cent.