India’s Bajaj Housing Finance posts bigger quarterly profit on home loan demand

India’s Bajaj Housing Finance reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, supported by strong credit growth as robust demand for premium homes and rising property prices continue to power the country’s real estate market.

The country’s biggest home loan financier by market value reported a 54% jump in profit to 5.87 billion rupees ($68.8 million) for the three months ending March 31.

Demand for homes in India, particularly in the premium segment that makes up a large part of Bajaj Housing Finance’s portfolio, has remained strong over recent quarters.

Residential real estate prices are set to rise steadily over the next few years, driven by demand for luxury properties from cash-rich individuals, according to a Reuters poll of housing experts.

Bajaj Housing’s loan assets rose 25% year-on-year to 995.13 billion rupees, while its assets under management climbed 26% to 1.15 trillion rupees.

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Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, rose 31% to 8.23 billion rupees.

Asset quality worsened slightly, with gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans rising to 0.29% at the end of March, from 0.27% in the same period a year ago.

The company’s shares ended 0.6% higher ahead of the results. They are 12% down since listing in September.