L&T Finance shares gain nearly 3% on 33% rise in retail loan disbursements March quarter

Shares of L&T Finance Ltd, formerly known as L&T Finance Holdings Ltd, jumped nearly 3% on Thursday, April 4, after the non-banking finance company (NBFC) reported robust 33% growth in retail loan disbursements during the three-month period ended on March 31 (Q4).

The L&T Finance stock rose as much as 2.85% to hit an intraday high of ₹175 in morning trade on the NSE. Later, the stock pared its early gains to trade at ₹172.3 apiece, up 1.26%, at 1:10 am. Notably, the stock has gained nearly 9% in the past five trading sessions and has doubled in the last one year.

In its quarterly business update released on exchanges on Wednesday, April 3, L&T Finance said that the company’s total estimated retail disbursements for Q4 FY24 stood at ₹15,030 crore, up 33% compared with disbursements of ₹11,282 crore in the year-ago quarter.

The urban finance segment was the biggest contributor to the total figure, with estimated disbursements of ₹5,980 crore in Q4. Next was the rural business finance segment with retail disbursements of ₹5,765 crore.

The company’s farmer finance and SME finance segments saw disbursements of ₹1,530 crore and ₹1,290 crore, respectively, during the March quarter. The acquired portfolio, meanwhile, recorded disbursements of ₹545 crore.

For full fiscal 2023-24, L&T Finance’s estimated retail disbursements grew 29% to ₹54,253 crore compared with ₹42,065 crore in 2022-23.

For the full fiscal year, the rural business finance segment was the biggest contributor with estimated disbursements of ₹21,492 crore, followed by the urban finance segment with disbursements of ₹20,412 crore.

L&T Finance also informed the stock exchanges that the company’s retail book at the end of Q4 FY24 was estimated at around ₹80,010 crore, which marked a growth of nearly 31% on a year-on-year basis.

Last week, the name of L&T Finance Holdings Ltd was changed to L&T Finance Ltd following approval from the Registrar of Companies (RoC). The new name, L&T Finance Ltd, is effective March 28, 2024.