Repco Home Finance is likely to grow by 20-25% in FY22: Yashpal Gupta, MD & CEO

Yashpal Gupta MD & CEO, Repco Home Finance, talks about concerns related to the second wave of the corona, demand in the real estate sector, collections and recovery during a candid chat with Swati Khandelwal, Zee Business. Edited Excerpts: 

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Q: Concerns seems to be increasing due to corona. What is your take on the situation and how are you gearing up in this volatile situation?

A: This second phase of lockdown due to Corona was quite unexpected. As we know that last time, it was at an all-India level but this time, it is restricted to the local level, i.e. in different states and areas, so the outlook is positive. Plus, the vaccine is available in the market, and I expect that its base effect will be low, and it will not have such an impact this time. We were expecting that 2021-22 will be better than 2020-21. We have our presence in Tier-II and Tier-III cities and such an outbreak of corona has not reached till date. However, the corona has had an impact on Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, but the lockdown has not been announced yet. So, I feel that corona will not have such a huge impact this time. But it is difficult to say because scientists can only say about the kind of impact it will have in the coming future.

Q: We saw a huge demand for real estate in the last one year. Numbers of the last quarter, i.e. Q4FY21, will be released soon. What are your expectations with the numbers?

A: There was a good pick-up in demand in the last 6-7 months and customers also became quite serious about it. A lot of window shopping was seen earlier, but they turned up serious now. So, we did good business in the last 6-7 months as compared to the first half of the year. Initially, it seemed that the growth will continue and there was an expectation that there will be a growth of around 20-25%. But I don’t know how long the problem will be there in place and would not like to say anything, now. However, I expect that we will grow by around 25% this year as compared to the last year, but it will depend on the impact that this wave of Corona will have and where lockdown is implemented. So, if lockdown is implemented then it will have a huge impact on our business but seeing the current situation, I think that this lockdown will not last very long. 

Q: Since the Maharashtra government has decided to not extend the stamp duty. How much impact do you see in the coming quarters because the reduction in stamp duty led to an increase in demand?

A: It is impacting but it is limited just to Maharashtra. Our business majorly spread in the southern states, like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh among others. Maharashtra has a contribution of around 5-6% in our business. Also, we have some business in Gujarat. I expect that it will not have a major impact and will have its impact in a selected zone, that too for a limited period. 

Q: How has been the collections and recovery, especially in Maharashtra and what are your expectations in terms of the collection? Also, how Q4FY21 has been and what are you anticipating in Q1FY21?

A: We recovered well in the fourth quarter but as we are a listed company so I cannot provide any information right now. But as I said that NPA percentage, which was at 4.3% in the December quarter and we expected that it will come down to 3.7% in the fourth quarter, so we will be around the same target. The collection has been good in the fourth quarter. In the first quarter, maximum impact happens on the collection although the business is affected, if everything is closed then collections will be impacted a lot. However, the RBI and the government are quite sensitive on the issue, and this is a reason that they offered a moratorium last year. So, if there is a lockdown that lasts long then it may do something on this front. But our collection is quite good to date.