Housing finance stock declares interim dividend, FIIs raise stake in Q2

The company has said today in a stock exchange filing that “Pursuant to Regulation 30 and 43 read with Schedule III of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, we would like to inform you that the Board of Directors of Aptus Value Housing Finance India Limited (“the Board”) at its meeting held on Monday, November 28, 2022, declared an Interim Dividend of Rs. 2/- per equity share of face value of Rs. 2/- for the Financial Year 2022-23. Further, pursuant to the provisions of Regulation 42 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the Board has fixed Friday, December 09, 2022 as the “Record Date” for the purpose of ascertaining the eligibility of shareholders for payment of Interim Dividend. The payment of Interim Dividend will be made on or before Friday, December 23, 2022.”

The firm reported a net profit of ₹123.32 Cr, up 44.65% YoY from the ₹85.25 Cr reported in Q2FY22. The company’s net consolidated income for the second quarter of FY23 was ₹277.05 crore, up 36.32 percent from ₹203.23 crore in the same quarter of FY22. In Q2FY23, the firm recorded an EPS of ₹2.48 per share, up from ₹1.75 in Q2FY22. NII was ₹191 Cr, up 40% YoY and 7% QoQ, whilst higher employee-related expenses drove up Opex by 42/36% YoY and QoQ.

Post the company’s Q2 results, the research analyst Ms. Dnyanada Vaidya of Axis Securities Ltd said in a note that “Aptus remains well-placed in the high-growth market that exhibits lower competition due to the expertise required to cater to the un/underserved self-employed customers. A large addressable market facilitating ample growth opportunities over the medium term and improving asset quality implying moderating credit costs would help Aptus continue to deliver a best-in-the-industry return profile, thereby underpinning premium valuations for the company. Improving business volumes is likely to keep the company’s Opex ratios marginally higher. However, Aptus continues to have one of the leanest cost structures across peers. We maintain our BUY recommendation on the stock with a target price of ₹370/share (4.8x FY24E ABV).”

The shares of Aptus Value Housing Finance India Ltd closed today on the NSE at ₹313 apiece, down by 0.096% from the previous close of ₹313.30. The stock recorded a total volume of 141,163 shares compared to the 20-Day average volume of 302,921 shares. On a YTD basis, the stock has fallen 10.17% so far in 2022. For the quarter ended September or Q2FY23, the company reported a promoter shareholding of 62.21% vs 62.35% in Q1FY23, FII stake of 12.42% vs 11.50% in Q1, DIIs stake of 2.63% vs 20.46% in Q1 and public stake of 22.74% vs 5.69% in Q1.