PNB Housing Finance Slumps 12% On Decline In Q3 Net Profit

Shares of PNB Housing Finance fell as much as 11.8 percent to Rs 476.30 on Friday. On Thursday, the company reported a 22 percent year-on-year fall in net profit to Rs 237 crore for the December-ended quarter on lower disbursement and higher expenses.

In the same period of the previous year, the company reported a profit of Rs 302.97 crore.

The reported profit was sharply lower than Rs 779.2 crore estimated by a Bloomberg poll of 14 analysts.

The company's total income fell by 0.18 percent to Rs 2,074.79 crore in December from Rs 2,078.46 crore a year ago. Its net interest income rose by 1.4 percent to Rs 566.1 crore as against Rs 558.2 crore in December 2018.

The lender's net interest margin, a key profitability ratio, fell to 2.98 percent for December 2019, the lowest in the last five quarters.

The outstanding loan book shrunk to Rs 69,194 crore from Rs 74,023 crore in March 2019.

Gross NPA (non-performing assets) as on 31 December 2019 were at 1.75 percent as against 0.47 percent a year ago. Assets under management (AUM) rose to Rs 86,297 crores, registering a growth of 8 percent.

Further, Punjab National Bank(PNB) has decided not to sell shares in its subsidiary PNB Housing Finance and maintain a minimum 26 percent shareholding as a promoter.

"PNB has confirmed that its stated objective is to continue to hold a minimum 26% shareholding in the company and continue to be the promoter," PNB Housing said in a statement.