Bajaj Finance share price fell 5.4 per cent to Rs 3,286 apiece on BSE after the non-bank finance company (NBFC) reported weak data for the July-September quarter. The stock was top Sensex laggard throughout the session. Even as the number of loans disbursed doubled sequentially, it was down 45 per cent on-year to 3.6 million. New loans also fell sharply during the quarter to 3.6 million as compared to 6.5 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. On the back of lower loan disbursal, asset under management (AUM) for the quarter under review remained flat on a year-on-year basis and sequentially, at Rs 1.37 lakh crore.
While, from the March lows of Rs 1,783.10, Bajaj Finance stock price has risen over 84 per cent. “The loan growth has taken a hit as management has turned risk-averse due to the regional lockdowns amid rising Covid-19 cases. However, our channel checks indicate that Bajaj Finance was back to lending and disbursing in Sep’20,” analysts at Emkay Global Financial Services said. The brokerage firm has maintained a ‘hold’ rating to the stock.
On the other hand, research and brokerage firm Motilal Oswal Financial Services has a ‘neutral’ rating to Bajaj Finance. The brokerage firm expects the company to have seen healthy traction in consumer B2B loans and to have gone slow in consumer B2C and SME lending. Despite flat AUM, Motilal Oswal believes that the upcoming festive season would be key for the growth trajectory for FY21.
In regards to healthy trends witnessed by peers such as Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), Motilal Oswal sees the sharp decline in disbursement volumes as a bit of a disappointment. “We believe it is a good strategy to curtail disbursements in this uncertain environment. In our opinion, this stance is likely to continue for another quarter or so. Hence, we now cut our FY21 AUM growth estimate to 6% from 12% earlier,” Motilal Oswal said in a report.
Bajaj Finance in an exchange filing said that it will continue to accelerate its provisioning for COVID-19 in Q2 FY21 as well to further strengthen its balance sheet. The company’s liquidity position remains very strong. “Consolidated liquidity surplus stood at approximately ₹ 22,300 crore as of 30 September 2020,” it said.
Ahead of closing, Bajaj Finance shares were trading 4.14 per cent lower at Rs 3,330 apiece on BSE, as compared to a 0.79 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.
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