Robust loan demand had the assets under management of the corporation rising to a five-quarter high of Rs 5,97,339 crore, up 10.6 per cent from Rs 5,40,270 crore in the previous year and pushed up the key net interest income growing 12.7 per cent to Rs 4,108.5 crore over the year-ago period, vice-chairman and chief executive Keiky Mistry told reporters and analysts in a post-earnings call on Monday.

Bottomline growth was helped by a robust 23 per cent growth in the individual loan book, boosting total loan sales by 15 per cent after adding back loans sold, he said.

Gross non-performing loans stood at Rs 10,341 crore, or 2 per cent of the loan portfolio, the same was 2.24 per cent in the June 2021 quarter.

Of this individual gross NPA declined to 1.1 per cent from 1.37 per cent and non-individual gross NPA fell to 4.69 per cent from 4.87 per cent on a sequential basis, Mistry said, adding the collection efficiency in individual loans improved to over 98 per cent during the reporting quarter. Total provisions stood at Rs 13,340 crore or as a percentage of the exposure at default at 2.56 per cent. Total income during the reporting period rose to Rs 12,226.39 crore from Rs 11,732.70 crore a year ago, of which net interest income contributed Rs 4,108.5 crore. On a consolidated basis, net profit in the quarter stood at Rs 5,670.47 crore, up from Rs 5,035.41 crore a year ago, while total income rose to Rs 38,603.51 crore from Rs 34,090.45 crore and the half-yearly consolidated net income rose 25 per cent to Rs 10,299 crore. Mistry said 89 per cent of new loan applications were received through digital channels, and individual loans comprised 78 per cent of the AUM. On an AUM basis, the growth in the individual loan book is 16 per cent.

He also noted that the expected credit loss for the six months stood at Rs 1,138 crore against Rs 1,635 crore in the same period last year, while the expected credit loss for the quarter was at Rs 452 crore against Rs 436 crore in September 2020. Mistry said he expects the credit cost to decline over the next two-three years and when the pandemic situation improves, and no more additional provisions need to be made.

The spread on loans over the cost of borrowings for the half-year was 2.29 per cent, and for the same on the individual loan book was 1.93 per cent and on the non-individual book was 3.37 per cent and net interest margin at 3.6 per cent. He said as much as 84 per cent of the assets are now linked to external benchmarks like 90-day T-bills.

Restructured loans under special COVID package stood at 1.4 per cent of the book, of which 0.9 per cent came from the first restructuring after the first wave, he said, adding almost 60 per cent of the restructured loans are retail.

On the decline in non-individual loans, which had contracted 5 per cent last year, Mistry said he is optimistic as the pipeline is robust now, and they will close the year with a positive loan growth from this segment.

The company paid Rs 891 crore in taxes for the quarter and Rs 1,795 crore for the half-year, up from Rs 1,217 crore a year ago.

As much as 30 per cent of home loans approved in volume terms and 14 per cent in value terms were affordable loans, with their average size being Rs 11.1 lakh.

HDFC continued to have the largest number of home loan customers of over 2.7 lakh, who have availed of the benefits under the credit-linked subsidy scheme with the cumulative loan disbursed under this at Rs 45,889 crore, and the cumulative subsidy amount stood at Rs 6,260 crore and as of September 30, 2021, loans disbursed under the same for the quarter was Rs 1,738 crore.

Individual loans comprised 78 per cent of the assets under management, and on an AUM basis, growth in the individual loan book was 16 per cent, and growth in the total loan book on an AUM basis was 11 per cent.

The outstanding amount in respect of individual loans sold was Rs 76,366 crore. It assigned loans worth Rs 7,132 crore during the quarter against Rs 3,026 crore a year ago to HDFC Bank. Loans sold in the preceding 12 months amounted to Rs 27,199 crore, up from Rs 14,138 crore.