Demand for home loans will rebound – HDFC

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Tuesday, Nifty ended marginally lower at 9,029. Among the sectors, Metal (+2.7%), Auto (+1.5%), and Realty (+1.2%) were the top gainers. IT (-1.9%), Pharma (-1.2%), and Media (-0.2%) were the only losers. JSW Steel (+5.9%), Eicher Motors (+5.7%), and Titan (+5.0%) led the gainers while Bharti Airtel (-5.9%), Bajaj Finserv (-5.1%), and TCS (-3.5%) ended in the red.

Excerpts from an interview with Mr. Keki Mistry, Vice Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, HDFC with BloombergQuint on 25^th May 2020:

• HDFC is offering a moratorium to all the customers. 79 percent of the borrowers have said they do not need it. A higher number of non-individual borrowers have opted for the moratorium compared to the individuals.
• Since some developers are facing liquidity issues due to the lockdown, HDFC has to give them moratorium. The large developers are able to service their loans, with or without sales. Small and mid-sized developers have asked for the moratorium.
• HDFC has not slowed down lending and is looking for fresh lending opportunities. In Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh, the offices are not open leading to slower disbursements. The offices which are currently open are working at 33 percent capacity and there will be a slowdown in disbursements during 1Q FY21. HDFC expects that 2Q FY21will be better than 1Q FY21 and consequently, 4Q FY21 will be back to 85 to 95 percent of normal levels.
• Owning a home continues to be an important aspect of the lives of Indians. The lockdowns imposed in the aftermath of the virus outbreak has forced people to work from home, relying on internet connections and video conferencing apps. This trend could push people to buy larger homes or ones with a separate study room. Joint families could split into smaller units going forward meaning more people will be buying their own houses.
• In the short term non-performing loans could rise but in the medium-to-long term, NPLs are expected to reduce. They have continued to tweak the credit underwriting model given the current situation.
• In the affordable housing segment, the average loan size is Rs 17.7 lakh and most of the customers are salaried customers and not self-employed. The risk from job-losses or income cuts and its impact on NPLs is probably higher than in the pre-crisis period. There are co-borrowers to a mortgage, so if one person loses a job or faces a salary cut, they generally still do not default.
• HDFC will be looking for opportunities to raise money. The liquidity level has been increased from around Rs 6,000 crores last year to around Rs 30,000 crores this year. HDFC has been recently sanctioned Rs 750 crores loan by the National Housing Bank recently.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)

• The closing price of HDFC was ₹ 1,506/- as of 26-May-2020. It traded at 2.8x/ 2.6x the consensus book value estimate of ₹ 531/ 574 for FY21E/ FY22E respectively.
• The consensus target price of ₹ 2,406/- implies a PB multiple of 4.2x on FY22E BV of ₹ 574/-.

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