PNB Housing Finance expects a 22% growth in fresh loan sales this fiscal, according to a top executive. The company, promoted by Punjab National Bank, has an aggressive growth plan and has set an internal target of crossing the Rs 1 lakh crore-mark on the assets side in the next three to three-and-a-half years.
In the June quarter, PNB Housing Finance saw its retail loans, which is 94% of its assets, growing 11% to Rs 56,978 crore. The assets stood at Rs 60,395 crore, which was 5% more than the year ago quarter. Girish Kousgi, the managing director and chief executive, said that the first quarter is traditionally tepid for mortgage lenders.
“We’ve a loan sanction guidance of 17-18% and disbursement target of 22% for the full year, as normally home loan demand picks up from the second quarter and peaks in the third quarter.
“And I am pretty confident of meeting the targets, and we have already started the second quarter on a strong note,” Kousgi told PTI in an interview.
Kousgi said his optimism is mainly due to the exit of HDFC from the market, saying that will help more on the funding side. In fact, there is a great opportunity on the liability side and also on the lending side, he added. Sounding bullish, he said their internal target is to touch the Rs 1 lakh crore-mark on the assets side over the next three to three-and-a-half years. The lender has a customer base of 2.6 lakh now and funding mix is one-third from deposits and 40% from banks. According to him, there is no need to raise growth capital in the next three to four months.
In May, PNB Housing Finance completed a rights issue of Rs 2,493.76 crore and saw the participation of Punjab National Bank, Carlyle, Ares SSG, General Atlantic and other large domestic and foreign institutional investors. The proceeds from the issue are being utilised to fund strategic growth plans and capitalise on the available growth opportunities. In the June quarter, the company reported a net income Rs 347 crore. Net interest income improved by 70% to Rs 629 crore as yield rose to 10.59% from 8.63%. The disbursements during the quarter grew 7% to Rs 3,686 crore and out of the total amount, retail disbursement was at Rs 3,667 crore.
