PNB Housing Finance soars over 8% after General Atlantic offloads stake in the firm: Report

Shares of PNB Housing Finance soared over 8% on Wednesday after CNBC-TV18 reported that over 1.3 crore shares of the firm were traded through block deals on the BSE.

According to the media report, General Atlantic Singapore Fund FII Pte was to offload shares at a floor price of ₹775 per scrip -- representing a 4.4% discount to the firm’s closing price of about ₹810 on Tuesday.

According to BSE shareholding data as of June 2024, General Atlantic Singapore Fund FII Pte held a 5.13% stake in the firm while Asia Opportunities V (Mauritius) held a 5.19% stake.

Meanwhile, for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, PNB Housing Finance reported a 3.6% year-on-year (YoY) rise in its net interest income (NII) at ₹651 crore while operating profit rose 6.9% YoY ₹542.20 crore. Net profit rose 24.6% YoY to ₹432.80 crore during the quarter.

Gross non-performing assets (NPA) declined by 241 basis points (bps) to 1.35% as on June 30, 2024 as compared to 3.76% in the same period last year. Net NPA declined to 0.92% during the quarter. The firm resolved one NPA and one written-off corporate account during the quarter. It recovered about ₹80 crore from a total written-off pool in Q1FY25.

The firm’s net interest margin stood at 3.65% in Q1FY25 as compared to 3.65% in Q4FY24 and 3.86% in Q1FY24. Cost of borrowing came down to 7.92% in Q1FY25 as compared to 7.98% in Q4FY24 and 7.97% in Q1FY24.

PNB Housing Finance said that disbursement grew by 19% YoY to ₹4,398 crore. Retail loan assets grew by 14.4% YoY to ₹65,157 crore as on June 30, 2024. Assets under management (AUM) grew by 8% YoY and 2% QoQ to ₹72,540 crore as on June 30, 2024.

Girish Kousgi, Managing Director and CEO of the firm, said the company’s focus on growth, asset quality and profitability are yielding results as evidenced by the increased contribution from high-yielding segments, such as the affordable segment and emerging markets, which accounted for over 30% of retail disbursement during the quarter.

Shares of the company have risen by over 11% since the beginning of the year. The stock has gained over 33% in the last one year.