PNB Housing jumps 10% after 14 mn shares change hands via block deals

Shares of PNB Housing Finance soared 10.25 per cent to an intraday high of Rs 893.6 per share on BSE on Wednesday, August 21. The stock rose after the counter saw multiple block deals.

Till 10:15 AM, 14.23 million shares had changed hands on the BSE. Combined with NSE, 19.97 million shares had changed hands on the counter.

While the buyers and sellers could not be confirmed, General Atlantic Singapore Fund FII Pte Ltd was the likely seller in the housing finance company. As per reports, General Atlantic Singapore Fund FII Pte Ltd was to offload 5.1 per cent stake in PNB Housing Finance Ltd via a block deal.

 

As per the shareholding pattern on BSE, General Atlantic Singapore Fund FII Pte Ltd held a 5.13 per cent stake in the housing finance company at the end of the June quarter.

Earlier in May 2024, General Atlantic Singapore Fund FII Pte Ltd had sold 6,379,030 shares for Rs 727.47 per share.

Further, in July, private equity firm Carlyle Group's Quality Investment Holdings PCC had sold 12,758,060 shares in the company. At the end of the June quarter, Quality Investment Holdings Pcc held a 32.68 per cent share in PNB Housing Finance, as per the company's shareholding pattern.

How did PNB Housing perform in Q1FY25?

PNB Housing Finance reported a nearly 25 per cent rise in first-quarter (Q1FY25) profit, helped by a steady demand for home loans.

The company's consolidated net profit rose to Rs 433 crore, up from Rs 347 crore a year earlier.

Demand for premium housing in the country has been strong even as the affordable segment saw some pressure due to high interest rates.

Home financiers saw strong disbursement in the quarter as home buyers pinned hopes of a rate cut later in the year.

"Rapid scale-up of affordable and emerging segments (~100-300bps higher yields) and the growing mix of non-home loan (HL) and smaller-ticket prime HL are important cog in PNB Housing Finance's strategy to improve profitability. These, coupled with the cost of finance (COF) benefit from rating upgrade, should enable PNB HF to expand spreads by 5-10bps and sustain the current margins by Q4FY26 (higher leverage), despite baking in the impact from 50bps rate cuts," analysts at IIFL Securities had said in a June report.

The brokerage expects PNB Housing Finance to deliver 19 per cent FY24-27 loan book CAGR and FY27 ROA/ROE of 2.2 per cent/12.0 per cent at 5.5x leverage, with potential ROE of 14.5 per cent at normalised leverage (6.5x).

IIFL Securities has a 'Buy' rating on PNB Housing Finance stock with a target price of Rs 1,050.

In the past year, PNB Housing shares have gained 23 per cent against Nifty 50's rise of nearly 24 per cent.