Bajaj Finance Q2 profit climbs 49% on higher core income, lower provisions

Non-bank lender Bajaj Finance Ltd reported a 49% increase in its standalone net profit for the second quarter, as its core income grew and provisions fell. 

Standalone net profit during the second quarter rose to Rs 1,306 crore for the July-September period from Rs 877 crore a year earlier, the company said.

Consolidated net profit jumped 53% to Rs 1,481 crore. The consolidated figure includes results of two subsidiaries—Bajaj Housing Finance Ltd and Bajaj Financial Securities Ltd.

The lender said its net interest income for Q2 increased by 26% to Rs 4,920 crore as against Rs 3,918 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Loan losses and provisions fell to Rs 1,239 crore from Rs 1,635 crore a year earlier.

During the quarter, the company did accelerated write-offs of Rs 355 crore of principal outstanding on account of Covid-19 related stress and advancement of the write-off policy, Bajaj Finance said.

During the three months ended September, Bajaj Finance booked 6.33 million new loans as compared to 3.62 million loans during the year-ago period. 

Shares of the company climbed 2.7% on Tuesday to end at Rs 7,849.15 apiece on the BSE. The shares have fallen 2% since touching a one-year high of Rs 8,020.20 last week, but are still up 142% over the past one year.

Bajaj Finance Q2: Other highlights

1) Standalone net interest income rose to Rs 4,902 crore, an increase of 26% over the same period last year. 

2) Consolidated net interest income came in at Rs 5,335 crore, an increase of an even higher 28%.

3) The consolidated gross NPA ratio stood at 2.45% against 2.96% in the first quarter.

4) The lender saw its net NPA ratio improve to 1.1% from 1.46% three months before.

5) Assets under management on a standalone basis grew 17% to Rs. 1.23 lakh crore from a year earlier.

6) On a consolidated basis, the AUM rose 22% to Rs 1.67 lakh crore.