Bajaj Housing posts higher profit on steady loan growth

India’s Bajaj Housing Finance reported a rise in quarterly profit growth on Monday, helped by steady loan growth despite higher competition from

banks.

The country’s biggest non-bank home loan financier by market value reported a 21% rise in third-quarter profit to 6.65 billion Indian rupees ($72.63 million) for the three months ended December 31, higher than the 18% growth in the preceding quarter.

The pace of profit growth was somewhat slower compared to the 25% registered in the same quarter last year.

The premium housing segment is seeing stiff competition in the last few months as banks have started offering home loans at lower rates than non-banking finance companies (NBFC).

Bajaj Housing Finance in November had said to sustain its growth it will continue to push forward in the home loans segment despite rising competition by expanding its reach across markets and customer segments. In July, the lender had forecast loan growth at 21-23% for the current financial year, compared to 26% last fiscal.

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The company’s assets under management rose 23% year-on-year to 1.33 trillion rupees for the quarter ended December 31.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, rose 19% to 9.63 billion rupees.

Asset quality was largely stable, with gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans at 0.27% at the end of December, from 0.26% three months earlier and 0.29% in the same period a year ago.

The company’s shares ended flat ahead of the results.