Going ahead with its stated objective to downsize its corporate loan exposure, city-based PNB Housing Finance wants to bring down the delinquency levels before it starts financing the sector again, its MD and CEO Girish Kousgi said.
The housing finance company, promoted by state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB), has been bringing down its corporate loan exposure over the last few years and has adopted a retail-first strategy to fuel growth.
In the second quarter ended September 2022, the company’s corporate loan book share reduced to 10 per cent with an exposure of Rs 5,708 crore. The retail segment loan book stood at Rs 52,124 crore, constituting 90 per cent of its overall loan book.
The company’s gross non-performing assets (GNPA) at the end of Q2 FY23 stood at 6.06 per cent. While the retail sector GNPA was at 3.39 per cent, that of the corporate book stood at 30.37 per cent.
“It is not about bringing down the percentage but to bring down the delinquency in corporate loans. Today the corporate loan book is over Rs 5,700 crore, it is less than 10 per cent of the portfolio.
“As of now the focus would be on the retail segment and may be in the next few quarters, once we bring down the delinquency in the corporate book, then we will restart (financing the sector),” Kousgi told PTI in a post-earnings interview.
Kousgi, who took charge as the head of the Delhi-based housing finance company (HFC) last week, said as of now the focus would be on retail loans, with affordable housing as one of the key contributors.
