Bajaj Finance Q1 Results: Profit Falls On Additional Contingency Provisions Amid Covid-19

Bajaj Finance Ltd.'s profit fell in the quarter ended June as the non-bank lender accelerated provisions to combat the disruptions stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Net profit declined 19% year-on-year to Rs 962 crore in the April-June period, according to an exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 901-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.

The Pune-based company's net interest income rose 12% over the year-ago period to Rs 4,152 crore, against the Rs 3,637-crore forecast.

Bajaj Finance made additional contingency provisions worth Rs 1,450 crore for Covid-19, taking the overall contingency provision to Rs 2,350 crore during the quarter.

The non-bank lender, in its business update for the April-June period released earlier this month, had said it "may consider additional accelerated provisions for Covid-19 to further strengthen its balance sheet."

That came as businesses shuttered and millions are left jobless after the novel virus outbreak forced the nation to impose the world's biggest lockdown. While that prompted the Reserve Bank of India to allow lenders to offer a moratorium on loan repayments for six months, it raised their bad loan risk.

Moratorium Accounts & Asset Quality

Bajaj Finance's consolidated moratorium book fell to Rs 21,705 crore, or 15.7% of assets under management, in the three months ended June, the filing said. That compares with the Rs 38,599 crore, or 27% of AUM, reported in the fourth quarter. Its consolidated moratorium book has an overall provision coverage of 13.7%.