L&T Finance’s Dinanath Dubhashi Says Growth Amid Market Downturn Is Toxic

L&T Finance Holdings Ltd. will not be growing aggressively when the market isn’t healthy, according to Dinanath Dubhashi, managing director and chief executive officer of the company.

“We don’t look for aggressive growth when the market is going down. That growth will be toxic,” Dubhashi told BloombergQuint in an interview. “This quarter has further accentuated the trend of top-rated NBFCs belonging to good parentage to distinguish themselves despite a difficult quarter.”

UBS AG has initiated coverage of L&T Finance in the long term with a ‘Buy’ rating and set a price target of Rs 165. The company will be a major beneficiary of the current liquidity crisis in construction finance in the long term, the brokerage said.

“Across industries, we have followed out strategy of either following the market, improving or maintaining our competitive position market by market,” he said.

MD Dubhashi’s comments came two days after the firm reported its December quarter results. Net profit at Larsen and Toubro Ltd.’s NBFC rose 1.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 591 crore on the back of net interest income that rose 20 percent to Rs 1,467.9 crore.

L&T Finance Q3 Results: Key Highlights (YoY)

• Net Interest Income up 20 percent to Rs 1,467.9 crore
• Net profit up 1.9 percent to Rs 591 crore
• Lending book growth up 5 percent to 99,453 crore
• Provision coverage at 57 percent versus 62 percent

WATCH | MD Dinanath Dubhashi on L&T Finance's Q3 Results