Bajaj Finance shares fall on muted loan growth sequentially
Upstox
2 min read • Updated: April 5, 2024, 11:24 AM
Summary
Bajaj Finance reported a 34% growth in its assets under management to approximately ₹3.3 lakh crore as of March 31, 2024. New loans booked during the quarter grew 4%.
Bajaj Finance has reported a 34% growth in its assets under management (AUM) to approximately ₹3.3 lakh crore as of March 31, 2024 as compared to ₹2.47 lakh crore as of March 31, 2023, the company said in an exchange filing. For the fourth quarter, AUM grew by ₹19,400 crore, it said.
RBI restrictions impact Q4 business numbers
However, the company posted weak loan growth figures for the fourth quarter. New loans booked during the fourth quarter grew just 4% by 78.7 lakh. However, during the third quarter, new loans booked had witnessed a growth of 26% to 98.6 lakh. The RBI restrictions imposed on Bajaj finance for saction and disbursal of eCom and Insta EMI products.
The company’s deposits book grew 35% on a year-over-year basis to approximately ₹60,100 crore as of March 31, 2024 compared to ₹44,666 crore as of March 31, 2023.
Customer franchise remains strong
Bajaj Finance said its liquidity position remains strong with consolidated net liquidity surplus at approximately ₹15,700 crore as of the end of previous fiscal. Customer franchise as of end of FY24 stood at 836.4 lakh as compared to 691.4 lakh as of March 31, 2023. In the fourth quarter of FY24, the customer franchise increased by 32.3 lakh.
During the third quarter, the non-banking finance company (NBFC) recorded a 25% year-over-year rise in its consolidated net total income at ₹9,298 crore while its net profit rose 22% to ₹3,639 crore. Asset quality improved with the gross non-performing assets (NPA) coming down to 0.95% compared to 1.14% in the same period a year ago. Net NPA came down to 0.37% compared to 0.41% a year ago.
The company had said while its net interest margin continued to soften gradually on account of lagged effect of cost of funds increase in Q3FY24, elevated loan losses and impact of regulatory action have led to profit growth being lower by approximately 5-6%.
Shares of Bajaj Finance were trading 0.79% lower during Friday morning session. The stock has had a decent run-up in the near term and has returned over 14% in the last one month.