With two significant milestones achieved in recent months – the acquisition of mortgage lender DHFL and the demerger of the pharma business – Piramal Enterprises Ltd will focus on the implementation of these decisions in the second half of the fiscal.

“The second half is to do the implementation, whether it is implementation or de-merger. The action has been taken by the board, now it is for the teams to perform,” Ajay Piramal, Chairman, PEL said.

In an interaction with BusinessLine after the second quarter results, Piramal said the focus will now be on the integration of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation with Piramal Capital and Housing Finance.

“Today, with the merger of DHFL, our retail loan book has increased. I see this proportion increasing to 50 per cent and then over a period of time to two third. Second, not only will we be in home loans, but we will increase our presence in small business loans, MSMEs and unsecured loans. We are increasing our geographical presence. We are in about 300 branches with DHFL,” he said.

In the retail segment, affordable housing will be the key focus for PCHFL.

Further acquisitions

When quizzed about further acquisitions and possible interest in companies such as Srei Infrastructure Finance and Srei Equipment Finance, Piramal said, “Let me not comment on SREI or anything else. Our focus will be integration of DHFL. We have enough capital and if there is something which fits into our strategy and is value accretive, we will do it.”

He also expressed confidence in recovery in economic activities post the second wave and said PEL is well placed to deal with a possible third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It's a positive surprise. The real estate sector has bounced back. Recoveries from even retail segment has been good. The second wave has not affected economic activities as much, except on the health front. Economic activity is at pre-Covid level. Loan demand is also coming back,” he said, adding that PEL has strengthened its balancesheet and systems and processes.

“In the unlikely event of a third wave, we will be able to manage,” he said.

He also said the company is well capitalised and is not looking at any capital raise at present.

PEL a 32.1 per cent drop in its consolidated net profit to ₹426.49 crore for the second quarter of the fiscal as against ₹628.31 crore in the same period last fiscal.