HDFC Q3 net rises 11.5% at Rs 1,425 cr on higher loan growth

New Delhi: Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC), the country’s top mortgage lender, posted an 11.5 percent gain in quarterly net profit, in line with estimates, aided by higher loan growth.[caption id=“attachment_763511” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Growing profits. [/caption] Net profit rose to Rs 1,425 crore ($232 million) in the October-December quarter from a year earlier, HDFC said on Thursday. Analysts were expecting a net profit of Rs 1,427 crore, according to Thomson Reuters. Income from operations increased 13 percent in the fiscal third quarter to Rs 6,758 crore, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange. HDFC said its loan book grew about 14 percent to Rs 2,20,000 at the end of December 2014 and its non-performing loans fell to 0.69 percent of the loan portfolio compared with 0.77 percent a year earlier. Net interest margin, a key measure of profitability, fell to 3.93 percent for the nine months ended December, compared with 3.99 percent from a year earlier, HDFC CEO Keki Mistry said in a TV interview. Reuters