LIC Housing Finance Q4 net up 17% on strong net interest income, revenue

NII rises 21% to Rs 1,201 cr in Q4FY19, revenue up 20% to Rs 4,655 cr; individual home loans up 18% to Rs 12,448 cr

Mortgage lender LIC Housing Finance has reported a 17 per cent growth in net profit during the last quarter of FY19. The housing finance company had a net profit of Rs 693.58 crore in Q4 of FY19 as compared to Rs 594.34 in the same quarter last fiscal. 

Net interest income of the company rose 21 per cent to Rs 1,201 crore in Q4 of FY19 from Rs 989 crore in Q4FY18. It also reported a 20 per cent growth in revenues to Rs 4,655 crore in Q4FY19, up Rs 3,888 crore in Q4FY18.

Loan disbursements of the company were up seven per cent to Rs 18,648 crore from Rs 17,402 crore a year ago.

After the IL&FS crisis, NBFCs and HFCs have been struggling on loan disbursements and have been selling off their loan portfolios to banks via securitisation.

The individual home loan segment of the mortgage lender saw  18 per cent growth to Rs 12,448 crore in Q4FY19. In Q4FY18, LIC Housing Finance had disbursed Rs 10,541 crore.

Project loans were down nine per cent in Q4FY19, at Rs 2,031 crore, from Rs 2,266 crore a year earlier.

Total disbursements during FY19 stood at Rs 55,315 crore, up 12 per cent from Rs 49,379 crore the previous year. 

Net Interest Margin during Q4FY19 stood at 2.54 per cent as against 2.44 per cent for Q4FY18. Net interest margin is a measure of the difference between the interest income generated by banks or other financial institutions and the amount of interest paid out to their lenders, relative to the amount of their assets. 

The company has seen a rise in bad assets in the fourth quarter of FY19. Net non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at 1.07 per cent as on March 31, 2019 against 0.43 per cent as on March 31, 2018.

Gross non performing assets (NPAs), including NPAs on developer loans, stood at 1.53 per cent as on March 31, 2019 as against 0.78 per cent a year ago. 

The mortgage lender's outstanding loan portfolio stood at Rs 1,94,646 crore, up 16 per cent from Rs 1,81,569 crore. Individual loan portfolio stood at Rs 1,81,569 crore as against Rs 1,59,350 crore, up 14 per cent. Its developer loan portfolio stood at Rs 13,077 crore on March 31, 2019 as against Rs 8,116 crore on March 31, 2018.

"The company has maintained its growth trajectory in FY2019 despite severe challenges in the financial sector. All financial parameters continued to show improvement," said LIC Housing Finance, Managing Director & CEO, Vinay Sah.