Edelweiss net up 40%

Pegs retail finance growth at 50% a year; to double capital for stressed asset biz in 3 years

Edelweiss Financial Services posted a 40 per cent rise in net profit at ~170 crore in fourth quarter ended March 2017, up from ~122 crore in Q4 of 2015-16.

While fees and commissions in Q4FY17 grew 134 per cent to ~481 crore from ~205 crore in Q4FY16, income from fund-based activity grew marginally by 7.6 per cent at ~1,215 crore. Net profit for FY17 rose 47 per cent to ~609 crore from ~414 crore in FY16. The board recommended 30 per cent dividend per share of ~1 each for 2016-17.

Its total credit book, including distressed credit, stood at ~27,608 crore at the end of FY17. Out of which, retail credit at ~8,952 cr was up 46 per cent over ~6,031 cr at the end of FY16. Rashesh Shah, Chairman and CEO, Edelweiss Financial Services, said the retail loan book was expected to grow 45-50 per cent annually for some more years on the back of robust demand for housing and small business segment.

Its client base was 390,000 (304,000 at the end of FY16). Retail credit consists of housing finance, SME and rural finance. It operates out of 55 cities and covers about 3,100 villages. Referring to business prospects for distressed credit, Shah said steps like more powers to the Reserve Bank of India for speedy resolution of stressed loans would give a push for growth. The capital employed for this business should grow 25-30 per cent annually for next three years. The distressed credit business had a capital of ~4,781 crore by the end of March 2017 and assets under management of ~39,500 crore.