Yashpal Gupta, MD & CEO, Repco Home Finance, talks about the quarter numbers and disbursement figures, loan book under moratorium and declining rates of interest among others during a candid chat with Swati Khandelwal, Zee Business. Edited Excerpts:

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How were the disbursement this quarter, and how much the Covid-19 has impacted the lending operations? Also, provide the highlights of the quarter?
You have said that the world including India is affected by CORONA but we have posted good numbers for the quarter while the net profit has declined by 8% in Q4FY20. The decline is visible due to extra provisioning of Rs 39 crore, however, it was not required but we did it to cushion ourselves. If a year-on-year comparison is made then our net profit has grown by 19% from Rs 234 crore posted last year to Rs 280 crore this year. If seen from that perspective than the numbers are far better and there is an improvement in margins. As far as a disbursement is concerned, then everyone knows what happened in the fourth quarter due to Corona, however, the lockdown was declared on March 22, 2020, but its effect was felt from March 14-15, 2020, and we could not make any disbursement in the last 15 days of March 2020, due to which 64% less disbursements were made, i.e. Rs 620 crore. Situations have now improved a bit but corona’s impact is there but disbursement is picking up again. We are requesting the customers and contacting them due to which an improvement is visible in this quarter.

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How much of the loan book is under moratorium?
Moratorium was announced in two different phases by the RBI. Under phase I, a lot of customers opted for a moratorium, when the impact of the corona was new then around 70% of customers took it. But, when the second phase announced in June then the numbers came down to 32% of which many will start paying from July. 

Many housing financing companies are reducing home loan rates and PSU banks home loan rates are at a multi-decade low. How do you see it and do you think that it will increase the competition and are you planning to reduce the interest rate?
Competition is huge but we haven’t decreased the rates as the banks. This is why we have kept a different business model since the start in which we serve to the segment that needs quick service and have or may not have proper documents and lies on the furlough sector and ready to get the loans if it is granted at the earliest even at higher rates. We are seeing competition in the sector but we have enough business at present. As far as the loan rate of interest is concerned then our rates have also come down and are offering lower rates to our customers. We have reduced our minimum rate of interest for customers from 8.75% to 8.25%. Thus, we have reduced our rates but can’t reduce it like the banks.