L&T Finance Q3 profit rises 17% to Rs 212 cr

Total income of the company increased to Rs 1,864 crore as against Rs 1,612 crore in the same period last fiscal

L&T Finance Holdings, financial services arm of engineering firm L&T, today posted a 16.7% increase in net profit to Rs 211.96 crore during the third quarter ended December 31.

The company's consolidated net profit was at Rs 181.60 crore in the October-December quarter of 2014-15.

Total income of the company increased to Rs 1,864 crore as against Rs 1,612 crore in the same period a year earlier.

"The operating performance has continued to remain steady with healthy margins, steady fee income and stable opex. The asset management business continues to contribute positively," L&T Finance Holdings said in a statement.

Gross NPA as a percentage shows a reducing trend on a annual basis despite above normal delinquencies in farm portfolio indicating that NPAs in other business have been contained, it said.

Gross NPA has come down to 2.88% of total credit as against 3.01% at the end of third quarter of the last fiscal.

Loans and advances grew by 23% to Rs 55,694 crore as compared to Rs 45,225 crore at the end of December 2014.

"This has been inspite of substantial negative growth in farm equipment business. The growth has been led by healthy disbursement growth of 40% in our key focus areas i.e. operational projects in renewable energy and roads; retail B2C products - housing, microfinance and two wheelers," it said.

On the outlook it said, the company expect overall asset growth for the current fiscal year to be around 25%.

"The company is focused on improving returns in all its businesses. All key operating metrics have remained consistent to improving over the last 8-10 quarters. As the economy turns around, it is expected that credit costs will come down gradually," it said.