Srei Infrastructure Finance posted a 30 per cent rise in its standalone net profit to ₹30 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2017, as compared with ₹23 crore in the same period last year.
Revenues during the period under review, however, declined marginally to ₹434 crore (₹437 crore).
According to Sunil Kanoria, Vice-Chairman, Srei, the primary focus for the infrastructure lending business has been to improve recovery and bring down costs.
“We have not been looking at aggressive loan book growth. Our focus has been on reducing cost, improving recovery and enhancing efficiency,” he said.
Srei Infrastructure has been able to bring down its net NPAs (non-performing assets) to 1.4 per cent as on September 2017, as against 2.1 per cent same period last year.
On a consolidated basis, net profit during the July-September quarter grew 39 per cent to ₹86 crore (₹62 crore). Revenues grew 13 per cent to ₹1,253 crore (₹1,106 crore).
Disbursements Consolidated disbursements during the quarter grew by 72 per cent to ₹6,011 crore.
“Construction and mining equipment finance has been the key driver for growth. A number of projects which had got stuck are now taking off,” Kanoria said.
The growth momentum is likely to continue with the infrastructure sector getting the much-needed push with projects such as Bharatmala, he added.
IPO The board of Srei Equipment Finance, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Srei Infrastructure, approved raising up to ₹2,000 crore through an initial public offer.
The company’s board also approved participation by the existing shareholders of Srei Infrastructure Finance in relation to such number of equity shares held by it which are eligible for offer for sale.