 "PNB housing finance, Punjab national bank")
India's PNB Housing Finance reported a 25 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit on Monday, helped by strong demand for home loans.
The company's consolidated net profit rose to Rs 5.5 billion ($64.7 million) for the quarter ended March 31 from Rs 4.39 billion a year earlier.
Total revenue increased 12 per cent to Rs 20.22 billion. India's housing market has seen resilient demand in recent quarters, especially for premium residences. Demand for affordable homes is also picking up, analysts said, aided by the government's push for low-cost housing.
The non-banking financial company has expanded to affordable housing in recent quarters as the segment commands higher interest rates due to lower competition from big banks. Its total loan disbursements jumped 23 per cent.
Disbursements in the affordable housing segment doubled year-on-year to Rs 12.91 billion, while that for the prime segment rose 7 per cent to Rs 41.41 billion.
Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, rose 16.2 per cent to Rs 7.34 billion. Meanwhile, its asset quality improved, with gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans falling to 1.08 per cent at the end of March from 1.50 per cent last year.
Last week, bigger rival Bajaj Housing Finance also posted a rise in quarterly profit on strong demand. PNB Housing's shares ended 1.5 per cent higher ahead of the results.
 "UCO Bank")
 "Indian Railways has completed electrification of 96.68 per cent of its broad gauge network, as it moved swiftly to become fully-electrified by 2024-25. Six more states now have 100 per cent electrified networks, taking the number of such states to 20")
 "mutual fund")
 "Shriram Finance")
