India’s Bajaj Finance post higher quarterly profit on tax reversal, loan growth

Bajaj Finance, India’s biggest non-banking financial company (NBFC), reported a higher fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by healthy loan growth and a tax reversal.

The company’s consolidated net profit jumped 17% to 44.80 billion rupees ($526.4 million), helped in part by a nearly 3.5-billion-rupee cut in its tax bill for the previous few years.

The results include the businesses of the lender’s subsidiaries, Bajaj Housing Finance and Bajaj Financial Securities.

Bajaj Finance’s assets under management grew 26%, helped by strong demand for credit, which analysts said boosted revenue growth. New loan bookings jumped 36% from a year ago.

Its net interest income – the difference between interest earned and paid out – rose 22% to 98.07 billion rupees.

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

The company said a reassessment of its tax position led to a 990-million-rupee reduction in last fiscal year’s tax provision and a 2.49-billion-rupee tax expense reversal for prior years, all of which were accounted for in the latest quarterly results.

The NBFC, which has grappled with elevated bad loans in the unsecured segment, said its provisions for bad loans increased nearly 78% in the quarter to 23.29 billion rupees.