HDFC Bank's gold loans grew 29.8 percent in the fourth quarter of FY23 compared to the same period in FY22; and the same increased by 8 percent from the third quarter of FY23.
The country's largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has seen a sharp jump of nearly 30 percent in its gold loan book in the last year. A Nuvama report shows that the bank's gold loans grew 29.8 percent in the fourth quarter of FY23 compared to the same period in FY22. The same increased by 8 percent from the third quarter of FY23.
HDFC Bank has shown significant gold loan growth in comparison to gold financiers Muthoot and Manappuram.
In February, Muthoot Finance reported an 8.5 percent increase in loan growth in the third quarter of FY23 when compared to the same period in FY22, and it was also 0.8 percent lower than its previous quarter.
George Alexander Muthoot, MD of Muthoot Finance Ltd, had then told CNBC-TV18 that new players, whether banks or NBFCs, are starting to realise that the gold loan business is "not a bed of roses". "Banks and NBFCs are starting to face issues with gold loans. We are not losing any customers to banks," he had said.
Last month, Manappuram Finance MD and CEO VP Nandakumar told CNBC TV-18 that the company expected gold loan growth of 10-12 percent in FY24 as the trend of declining gold AUMs had been arrested. The second-largest gold loan company in the country had said it was seeing rising demand from the "bottom of the pyramid".
HDFC Bank on Saturday reported strong quarterly earnings, with a 19.8 percent jump in standalone net profit at Rs 12,047.5 crore for the fourth quarter that ended March 31, 2023, compared to the same period in FY22.
In the corresponding quarter last year, the bank posted a net profit of Rs 10,055.2 crore. A CNBC-TV18 Poll had predicted a profit of Rs 12,152.2 crore for the quarter under review.
The bank's net interest income (interest earned less interest expended) for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, grew by 23.7 percent to Rs 23,351.8 crore from Rs 18,872.7 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. The core net interest margin was at 4.1 percent on total assets, and 4.3 percent based on interest-earning assets.
Its shares were trading 1.7 percent lower on the BSE at Rs 1,664.50 apiece around 10.30am.
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