Latest news with #Rs397
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
CreditAccess expects recovery amid improving PAR performance
CreditAccess Grameen faces rising delinquencies and credit costs, but analysts expect asset quality to recover gradually from the second half of FY26. CreditAccess Grameen stock fell 9% in three sessions after Q4 showed rising slippages, higher credit cost, and weakening asset quality. Analysts cut FY27 earnings, but expect a rebound from H2FY26 as collection efficiency improves. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The stock of CreditAccess Grameen has lost nearly 9% in the past three trading sessions after the country's largest listed microfinance company declared rising slippages, higher credit cost, reduced collection efficiency, and rising gross non performing assets (GNPA) ratio for the March a positive note, the lender reported lower accretion in the portfolio at risk (PAR) in states other than Karnataka in the March quarter. The condition in Karnataka is expected to improve in the second half of the current fiscal year. The credit cost is expected to normalise in the second half of FY26 to around 3.5% from 7.8% in FY25. Analysts have reduced FY27 earnings estimates by 4-8%.Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, which contribute 31% and 19% to the gross loan portfolio respectively, exhibited higher delinquencies in the March quarter. An ordinance issued by these states to protect vulnerable borrowers from coercive loan recovery affected the collection PAR-AUM (assets under management) ratio in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu increased sequentially to 2.4% and 4.5% in the March quarter from 1.2% and 3.2% in that order. The ratio also shot up in Bihar to 7.3% from 5.3% by similar comparison though the state has a relatively small share of 4.8% in the total loan book. The company expects a reversal in the PAR trend not before the September credit cost shot up to 7.7% in FY25 from 2.1% in the previous year due to higher provisioning and write-offs. This also affected the return ratios. The return on assets (RoA) contracted to 1.9% from 5.6% in FY24 while the return on equity dropped to 24.9% from 7.7%.The situation is likely to improve in the current fiscal year given the possibility of a recovery from the December quarter. The company expects to limit credit cost between 5.5% and 6% for FY26 while RoA and RoE are likely to be 2.9-3.4% and 11.8-13.3% company's gross loans fell by 2.9% to Rs 25,948 crore in the March 2025 quarter. Net profit nearly halved to Rs 47.2 crore from Rs397 crore a year ago. Net interest margin (NIM) contracted by 40 basis points to 12.7%. Motilal Oswal Financial Services has cut the FY27 earnings estimate by 10% amid higher credit cost and lower credit growth. It expects AUM growth of 18% between FY25 and FY27. The brokerage expects CreditAccess to bounce back to normalcy faster than other microfinance peers and therefore, it has raised the stock's target price to Rs1,425 from Rs1,170. The stock was traded at Rs1,101 on Wednesday on the BSE.
Business Recorder
28-04-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
HBL – profits grow despite challenges
HBL, Pakistan's largest commercial bank, posted another record quarterly pretax profit at Rs16.6 billion for 1QCY25 – up 22 percent. After tax profit growth was contained at 11 percent year-on-year, as effective tax rate was up to 55 percent for the period, up 5 percentage points from a year ago. Exemplary administrative cost control, strong non-funded income growth, reduction in provisioning charges and surge in markup income all contributed towards profitability growth – despite many challenges facing the industry. The story of the quarter across industry revolves the swift asset mix re composition. The advances bonanza was never going to last beyond the end of 4Q as banks rushed to avoid higher penal tax. Things are back to usual almost immediately, with the ADR dropping 10 percentage points over December 2024 to 44 percent, having gained nearly 15 quarter-on-quarter in the previous quarter. Advances portfolio in absolute terms was down Rs397 billion over December 2024 – wiping most of the Rs484 billion gains of 4QCY24. The 17 percent quarter-on-quarter in the loan book size is by far the sharpest dip recorded in recent history. The retreat in advances is not unique to HBL—it reflects an industry-wide trend. Total advances for the banking sector declined by 15 percent over December 2024, settling at Rs15 trillion. Notably, NBFIs, despite making up just 8 percent of the total loan portfolio, accounted for nearly one-third of the Rs2.4 trillion quarterly drop, largely due to the temporary lending spike during the ADR-driven race last quarter. On the liabilities front, deposits inched up a modest 2 percent over December 2024 at Rs4.4 trillion, slightly below the industry-wide deposit growth of 4 percent during the period. Domestic deposit growth was led by a massive Rs127 billion increase in current account, further improving the CASA ratio. The current account to total deposit mix has improved further from 34 percent in December 2024 to 40 percent by the end of 1QCY25. Despite a significant monetary easing of close to 1000 basis points during the year, the net-interest income displayed double-digit growth, reflective of balance sheet expansion and cost of deposit optimization. Non-markup income increased steadily driven by treasury business and fee franchise commission. HBL's cost optimizing initiatives kept the administrative expense growth contained at just 7 percent year-on-year, leading to a much-improved cost-to-income ratio of 55.6 percent – up 2 percentage points year-on-year. With the agriculture and large scale manufacturing still struggling – even a significant reversal in monetary policy is not likely to lead to a big change in private sector credit appetite. Consumer loans could still pick up as rates have receded from the historic highs, and auto financing could well be the catalyst.
Express Tribune
24-03-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Consumers unable to buy poultry at govt rates
As the holy month of Ramazan nears its end, the Punjab government has yet to address the ongoing issue of poultry price fixation, allowing unchecked overcharging in markets. Despite official rates remaining unchanged for the fourth consecutive week, consumers continued to face inflated prices. Officially, chicken meat was priced between Rs397 and Rs411 per kilogram but it was sold at Rs600 to Rs650 per kg across the provincial capital. Similarly, boneless chicken, fixed at Rs1,150 to Rs1,200, was sold at significantly higher rates. The issue of overpricing extended beyond poultry, with fruits, vegetables and other meats being sold above their official rates. Price enforcement remained ineffective in markets. Potatoes, onions and tomatoes were sold at almost double the official price. Soft-skin A-grade potatoes were officially priced between Rs45 and Rs50 per kg but sold for Rs80 to Rs100. A-grade onions, with an official price of Rs45 to Rs50, were sold for Rs80 to Rs100 per kg. Tomatoes saw a substantial markup, as A-grade varieties were officially fixed at Rs55 to Rs60 per kg but were sold for up to Rs140. Garlic and ginger prices fluctuated, with local garlic dropping by Rs30 per kg, while the GI variety increased by Rs10, and Chinese garlic saw a reduction of Rs10. Despite these adjustments, all varieties were sold well above fixed prices. The cost of Thai and Chinese ginger also surged by Rs32 per kg, selling for Rs500 to Rs600 in markets. Vegetable prices reflected similar trends. Cucumbers, brinjals, bitter gourds, zucchini and lemons were all sold at rates significantly exceeding their official pricing. Farm cucumbers, officially priced at Rs40 per kg, were sold at Rs80 to Rs100. The price of brinjals remained unchanged officially at Rs57 to Rs60 per kg, but market rates soared to Rs100 to Rs120. Fruit prices also remained volatile, with apples, bananas, guavas, pomegranates, and strawberries experiencing notable increases. Apple prices varied widely, with official rates between Rs170 and Rs325 per kg, but market prices soared as high as Rs540 to Rs600. Bananas saw a substantial markup, with A-category priced at Rs260 per dozen but selling for Rs350 to Rs400. Pomegranates and dates remained costly, with the premium varieties reaching as high as Rs1,500 per kg. Seasonal fruits like kinow and musami were also sold at inflated prices, with kinow reaching up to Rs 600 per dozen.
