LIC Housing Finance Expects Higher Q3 Sales

On the back of "a much-more-than-expected recovery in demand since the past two months", India's second-largest pureplay mortgage lender LIC Housing Finance expects a bumper festival season as it eyes loan growth to be in double-digits. The LIC arm reported positive numbers even in the June 2020 quarter which was a washout for the entire economy, with a net income of Rs 817.48 crore, up 34 percent y-o-y, even though its net interest income rose only 3 percent to Rs 1,220.61 crore and the loan sales grew 6 percent. To drive demand, the company has waived off processing fee for two months ending November as part of its festive offer. Siddhartha Mohanty, Managing Director and Chief Executive of LIC Housing Finance, feels the results are already visible. Another enabling factor is the stamp duty cut by many states and the marginal fall in home prices across the major markets. All these factors coupled with the firm's festive offer should help grow the company in high double digits in the third quarter.