Total provisions rose close to 40 times to Rs 977 crore from Rs 27 crore a year ago and higher than the Rs 181 crore reported in the quarter ended December 2020.
Higher provisions overshadowed the recovery in disbursements in the quarter and also a 33% growth in net interest income (NII). Net interest margin (NIM) improved to 2.66% in March 2021 from 2.17% a year earlier.
Total disbursements rose 97% to Rs 22,362 crore the quarter ended March 2021 from Rs 11,323 crore a year earlier led by a doubling in disbursements for home loans to Rs 19010 crore. Disbursements for project loans also increased three times to Rs 1197 crore from Rs 411 crore in March 2020. 78% of the company’s loans are to individual home buyers.
CEO Viswanatha Gowd said the company’s collection efficiency has stayed above 90% despite the disruptions caused by the second wave of Covid 19 and he expects things to get better from the second quarter.
“There are challenges but we would like to focus on the opportunities. The fourth quarter performance was the best in three decades. Our loan book has increased 10% year on year and we expect to do better this fiscal,” Gowd said.
LICHF’s outstanding portfolio grew 10% to Rs 2.32 lakh cr from Rs2.10 lakh cr a year earlier. Gross NPAs increased to 4.12% of loans from 2.86% as on March 2020.
The company also restructured 1473 accounts totalling Rs 2970 crore of loans out of which Rs 2358 crore loans were commercial loans. Gowd said the company is also receiving requests for loan restructuring under the second round of restructuring annouced by the RBI in May.
