HDFC profits rise to Rs 1,326.14 crore

HDFC profits rise to Rs 1,326.14 croreIndia's largest mortgage lender, the Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd (HDFC) has said that its net profit has risen 16 per cent to Rs1,326.14 crore in the fourth quarter compared to Rs 1,141.95 crore for the quarter till march 2011.

The analysts were expecting the lender's net profit to rise to Rs1,274.3 crore in the quarter. The better than expected figures came as the bank recorded a 20 per cent increase in demand for home loans to Rs1,40,875 crore from Rs1,17,127 crore in the year earlier.

The Net interest margin of the bank reamiend the same as the previous year at 4.4 per cent. Gross non-performing loans amounted to Rs1,069 crore, which about 0.74 per cent of the total portfolio compared to 0.77 per cent in the previous year.

On the other hand, the profit on the sale of investments of the country's largest housing finance major decreased to Rs 79 crore compared with Rs 134 crore in the same quarter previous year. The provision requirement for the bank has increased due to changes in norms by the National Housing Bank (NHB).

"This is the twenty-ninth consecutive quarter end at which the percentage of non-performing loans have been lower than the corresponding quarter in the previous year," HDFC said in a release.

HDFC's shares rose 0.94 per cent to Rs. 666 at the time of reporting on Monday afternoon on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) even as the benchmark sensex fell 0.19 per cent.