Housing Demand in Smaller Cities Remains Robust: Repco Home Finance

Repco Home Finance says housing demand in tier II and tier III cities continues to be robust, especially in the lower ticket sizes.
  V. Raghu, executive director of the non-banking finance company, told NDTV that "there is always demand for housing, especially in lower ticket size. For a company like Repco, which operates in tier-II, tier-III cities, the demand has been robust and we have been able to maintain the growth rate in Q1." (Watch)
  Repco Home Finance on Saturday reported a strong 22 per cent increase in its net profit for the June quarter at Rs 30.2 crore, compared to Rs 24.8 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.
  Its income from operation grew 28 per cent annually to Rs 200 crore in the April-June quarter from Rs 156 crore in the year ago period.
  Repco Home Finance's loan book grew 30 per cent in the June quarter, Mr Raghu said, led by a 38 growth in sanctions and 40 per cent higher disbursements.
  Repco Home Finance has also been a beneficiary of a reduction in cost of funds over the past few quarters. Its cost of funds came down to 9.68 per cent in the June quarter as compared to 9.85 per cent year-on-year. "We diversified more into the non-convertible debenture route and commercial paper during the first quarter, which helped us in moderating our cost fund funds to this level," Mr Raghu said.
  Shares of the Chennai-headquartered company have outperformed the benchmark Bank Nifty over last one year. The stock has gained 74 per cent in last one year, compared to nearly 29 per cent gain in the Bank Nifty.
  Repco Home Finance shares closed 1.25 per cent higher at Rs 754.85 a piece, compared to 0.10 per cent fall in the industry benchmark Bank Nifty.