Indiabulls Housing Finance Shares Fall Nearly 10% On Moody's Downgrade

Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBH) shares fell nearly 10 per cent on Friday, after rating agency Moody's Investors Service downgraded the mortgage lender's corporate family rating to "Ba2" from "Ba1". The credit ratings agency also changed its outlook to "negative" from "stable". The downgrade reflects renewed pressure on the cost and availability of funds for Indiabulls Housing Finance and certain other finance companies in the country, Moody's said in a statement on Wednesday. This presents a more challenging external environment than Moody's had anticipated, Moody's Investors Service further said. 

"The outlook has been changed to negative to reflect the possibility that the tight funding conditions may persist for some time, which could further pressure other aspects of IBH's credit profile, such as profitability and asset quality," it said.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Indiabulls Housing Finance shares opened lower at Rs 521.50 apiece and dropped to as much as Rs 498.00 apiece, marking a decrease of 9.67 per cent. On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the share price of the company declined as much as 9.66 per cent to touch the Rs 498 mark at the day's lowest point. 

At 12:53 pm, Indiabulls Housing Finance shares traded 5.00 per cent lower at Rs 523.75 apiece on the BSE, underperforming the benchmark Sensex index which was flat at 37,299.98. 

Earlier this month, Indiabulls Housing Finance reported a net profit of Rs. 801.53 crore for the April-June period, marking a fall of 24 per cent over the corresponding period a year ago.