LICHF, PNBHF struggling to gain lost ground as Street turns a blind eye

Both public sector non-bank lenders are aligning their loan book favourably towards retail home loans without losing sight on profitability

Stocks of LIC Housing (LICHF) and PNB Housing (PNBHF) have corrected 17-23 per cent in the past three months. Despite better-than-expected September quarter (Q2) results partially lifting their stocks, they haven’t been adequate to make up for lost ground.

The problem with LICHF is its 7 per cent exposure to wholesale loans, in comparison to peers including PNBHF (which has 39 per cent exposure to non-retail loans), LICHF’s share doesn’t appear too high, these loans have marred the housing financier’s asset quality. In Q2, the gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio remained elevated at 2.38 per cent (versus 1.27 per cent last