PNB Housing Finance Q4 Results: Profit Rises 57%, Beats Estimates

PNB Housing Finance Ltd.'s fourth-quarter profit surged, beating analysts' estimates as expenses incurred on account of impairment of financial instruments and write-offs were nearly wiped out.

The company's standalone net profit rose 57% year-on-year to Rs 443.80 crore for the quarter-ended March, according to an exchange filing on Wednesday. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had estimated a consolidated net profit of Rs 359.23 crore.

In the December quarter, the bottom line stood at Rs 346.5 crore.

PNB Housing Finance Q4 Highlights (Standalone)

• Net profit up 57% to Rs 443.80 crore.

• Total income up 11% to Rs 1,806 crore.

• Interest income up 6.5% to Rs 1,683.7 crore.

The amount of loan assets written-off stood at Rs 6.6 crore in the fourth quarter, as compared with Rs 144.9 crore in the year-ago period. This was down 95% on a yearly basis. Lower write-offs mean lower provisions for the lender.

The net interest income grew 7.2% year-on-year to Rs 613.7 crore. On a quarterly basis, the NII rose 4.7%. The housing financier's net interest margin stood at 3.65% in Q4, as compared with 3.49% in the previous quarter and 3.74% in Q4 FY23.

Credit cost came in at 4 basis points in the quarter under review, from 34 basis points in Q3 and 89 basis points in the same quarter a year ago.

PNB Housing Finance's operating expenses increased by 23% year-on-year and 6% sequentially to Rs 176 crore, primarily on account of branch expansion and upgradation of IT infrastructure, the company said in a press release.

Asset quality of the housing finance company improved during the quarter, on the back of augmented collection effort, the company said in its investor presentation. Gross non-performing asset ratio stood at 1.50%, from 1.73% in the previous quarter. Net NPA stood at 0.95%, as compared with 1.14% in Q3.

The assets under management grew by 7% year-on-year to Rs 71,243 crore, as on March 31. The loan book rose 10.3% on a yearly basis to Rs 65,358 crore, driven by growth in the prime retail segment.

In terms of capital adequacy, the company was comfortable with 29.26% of CRAR, as on March 31, of which tier-I capital stood at 27.90% and tier II at 1.36%.

The PNB Housing stock ended in green, up 1.9% at Rs 800.90 apiece on the BSE, as compared with a 1.3% rise in the benchmark Sensex. The results were announced after market hours.