L&T Finance shares rise 3% as FY24 PAT increases by 43%

L&T Finance on Saturday announced an 11% year-on-year (YoY) rise in its fourth quarter consolidated net profit at ₹554 crore. Shares of the company were trading over 3% higher on Monday.

The company said its net interest income (NII) rose 14% YoY to ₹1,909 crore during the quarter. It marked its highest quarterly retail disbursements in Q4FY24 at ₹15,044 crore, up 33% YoY.

For the fiscal year 2024, net profit grew 43% YoY to ₹2,320 crore while net interest income rose 12% YoY to ₹7,115 crore. Retail disbursements grew 29% YoY to ₹54,267 crore during the year. The company’s retail book grew 31% YoY to ₹80,037 crore.

The board has recommended a final dividend of ₹2.50 per equity share for FY24.

Sudipta Roy, Managing Director and CEO at L&T Finance said this is the highest-ever yearly net profit delivered by the company during its lifetime. “Despite the challenging interest rate environment, our borrowing cost remained stable and our portfolio credit metrics continued its improvement journey. Looking ahead, our focus remains on exceeding the 95% retailisation target while maintaining a robust book growth of more than 25%,” he said.

The firm’s rural business saw its highest-ever quarterly disbursements at ₹5,768 crore, up 31% YoY. The growth was aided by a strong focus on strengthening customer retention coupled with a renewed focus on new customer acquisition, the company stated.

Farmer finance disbursements were down 2% to ₹1,530 crore during the quarter while two-wheeler disbursements rose 45% to ₹2,502 crore. Personal loan disbursements were down 27% YoY to ₹968 crore.

The company said its weighted average cost (WAC) of borrowing went up by just one basis point to 7.82% on a sequential basis, and by 34 basis points to 7.80% in FY24.

Shares of the company have risen 3.52% since the beginning of the year. The stock has gained over 83% in the last one year.