L&T Finance Holdings Net doubles at Rs 286 crore

Non-banking lender L&T Finance Holdings today reported a 97 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 286 crore for the June quarter, primarily driven by a Rs 119-crore one-time income from a stake sale in the City Union Bank.
Excluding this exceptional item, the company's net grew 15 per cent to Rs 167 crore for the reporting period, as against Rs 145 crore in the corresponding period last year, a company statement issued here today said.
In the statement, the company said an expansion in the net interest margin from the retail lending business, besides stability in operating expenses and credit costs helped it achieve profit growth.

However, it added that margins from the wholesale business witnessed a dip during the quarter.
Last month, the company offloaded its 4.55 per cent stake in private sector lender City Union Bank through an open market transaction for Rs 183 crore, the statement said.
There was a 19 per cent growth in advances during the quarter at Rs 40,764 crore, which was led by rural products finance, personal vehicle finance and housing finance in the retail business, the statement said.

On the assets quality front, the gross non-performing assets ratio increased to 3.57 per cent as against 3.18 per cent a year ago, the statement said.

As per the statement, L&T Finance Holdings Chairman & Managing Director Y M Deosthalee attributed the increase in loan book stress to seasonality in the retail portfolio during the first quarter and the issues in infrastructure sector.
"Our efforts and the positive outlook for the medium term should bring about a gradual improvement in asset quality in the upcoming quarters," he said as per the statement.
The company would continue being cautious in lending to construction equipment, commercial vehicles and corporates segments, he said in the statement.
The company scrip closed 0.75 per cent down at Rs 72.50 a piece on the BSE, whose 30-share benchmark ended the day with gains of 0.47 percent.