Bajaj Finance Q4 profit slips 19 pc to Rs 948 cr

Bajaj Finance on Tuesday reported 19 per cent decline in March quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 948 crore due to COVID-19 crisis.

The company had registered a profit of Rs 1,176 crore in January-March 2018-19, according to a company statement.

Total income in the latest quarter rose to Rs 7,232.83 crore from Rs 5,298.01 crore in the year-ago period, it said.

The company has made a contingency provision of Rs 900 crore with regard to COVID-19, it said.

Due to coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown, the company lost 10 productive days in the quarter resulting in lower acquisition of nearly 1 million loan accounts and lower AUM of approximately Rs 4,500 crore, it said.

In accordance with the RBI guidelines relating to ''COVID-19 Regulatory Package'' dated March 27, 2020, the company has offered EMI moratorium to its customers based on requests as well as on a suo-moto basis, it said.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as at March-end 2020 rose to 1.61 per cent from 1.54 per cent a year ago while net NPA increased to 0.65 per cent from 0.63 per cent.