L&T Finance Q2 Profit Up 17%, Challenges Ahead

Mumbai, Oct 18 (PTI) Non-bank lender L&T Finance on Friday reported a 17 per cent increase in its consolidated profit after tax at Rs 696 crore.

The city-headquartered company had reported a net profit of Rs 595 crore in the year-ago period.

In a statement, the company said its overall assets growth came at 18 per cent, and the disbursements in the focus area of retail were up 12 per cent for the reporting quarter.

The retail book growth stood at 28 per cent, and the overall quantum was Rs 88,795 crore as of September 30, 2024.

The net interest margins and fees were stable at 10.86 per cent, the statement said.

Its managing director and chief executive Sudipta Roy said it faced challenges in the second quarter due to multiple sectoral headwinds and a volatile macro environment.

"We expect that the sectoral challenges may persist for the next two quarters, and apropos to the same, we may dynamically recalibrate our business objectives in the coming quarters, prioritising positive credit outcome over assets under management growth," he added.

The CEO was quick to add that the company remains optimistic about its go-forward strategy, and despite ongoing sectoral challenges, will remain focused on our overall transformation agenda and granular execution.

On the asset quality front, the gross stage 3 assets ratio improved to 3.19 per cent at the end of the quarter against 3.27 per cent in the year-ago period, while the credit costs were stable at 2.59 per cent.

The company was able to reduce the cost of funds by 0.05 per cent to 7.8 per cent on proactive asset-liability management.