
PNB Housing Finance to resume project financing soon: MD
KOLKATA: Mortgage lender
PNB Housing Finance
is all set to resume
project financing
this quarter after a gap of three years, with the current strength in asset quality providing a platform to renew tryst with developers' segment that troubled it in the past.
Managing director Girish Kousgi
told ET that a few loans to builders in a range of Rs 100-150 crore are already in the pipeline.
"We may start project financing this quarter. We have set a target of achieving a portfolio of Rs 1,500 crore by the end of the fiscal," Kousgi said over a telephonic interaction.
The lender's asset quality improved to 1.08% at the end of FY25 as compared with 1.5% a year back. It aims to bring down gross
NPA
below 1% this year.
It had elevated gross NPA at 7.6% at the end of FY22, about 60% on account of the corporate loan book. It had a corporate loan book of Rs 14,614 crore at the end of FY20 and thereon it started reducing the exposure.
The company's assets under management expanded 13% year-on-year to Rs 80,397 crore at the end of the last fiscal, while on-book loan assets grew 16% to Rs 75,765 crore. Out of this, retail loans grew 18% to Rs 74,802 crore. The lender's legacy corporate book from project finance stood at Rs 963 crore, reduced by 53% year-on-year following a conscious draw down exercise.
The company has given an 18% growth guidance for FY26.
Among other new initiatives, PNB Housing has set up a new vertical earlier this month to give a push to its loans against property (LAP) business.
"We now have a dedicated team for LAP. This segment offers about 125 basis points higher yield on an average as compared to other loans," Kousgi said.
He said that more
housing loan demand
is coming from the affordable and emerging markets loan segment.
Its affordable loan business, which it started barely years back, grew 183% year-on-year to Rs 5,070 crore at the end of March. It aims to take the portfolio to Rs 9,500 crore by the end of this fiscal and Rs 15,000 crore by FY27.
The company's share price rose 4.5% Tuesday to Rs 1,030.65 on BSE.

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