Bajaj Finserv's Q4 profit tumbles 77 pc as Covid-19 provisions rise

Bajaj Finserv on Thursday reported 77 per cent decline in its Q4 FY20 consolidated net profit to Rs 194 crore as compared to Rs 839 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

It said the profit excluding Covid-19 impact totalled Rs 1,001 crore versus Rs 839 crore in Q4 FY19.

However, total income rose to Rs 13,294 crore in Q4 FY20 from Rs 12,995 crore in Q4 FY19. Interest income also surged 58 per cent to Rs 7,919 crore as compared to Rs 5,005 crore in the previous year.

The company said that spread of Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a sudden and steep fall in the value of shares traded on the stock exchanges. In Q4 FY20, the Nifty 50 Index and the BSE 200 index lost 29 per cent.

Under Ind AS, the insurance subsidiaries have chosen to hold equity securities as fair value through profit and loss account and therefore the insurance compes had an unrealised mark-to-market (MTM) pre-tax loss of Rs 768 crore in the consolidated financials.

Additionally, Bajaj Finance Ltd made a pre-tax provision of Rs 900 crore in the form of contingency provision on account of the impact of Covid-19.

The MTM adjustment and the contingency provision, together considered as Covid-19 impact, after adjusting for tax and the company's interest in those subsidiaries have impacted consolidated profit after tax of Bajaj Finserv for Q4 and FY20 by Rs 807 crore.

The company's total insurance business in the March quarter declined significantly by 22 per cent to Rs 6,066 crore. The assets under management came in at Rs 56,085 crore compared to Rs 60,789 crore, down 7.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

Chief Finance Officer S Sreenivasan the situation is still evolving and it is difficult to hazard a guess on how this pandemic will evolve.

"The company and its subsidiaries will be focusing on profitability over growth, seeking to conserve cash, borrowing long-term, strengthening collections, reducing overheads and preserving capital adequacy," he said.

Bajaj Finserv is the holding company for the various financial services businesses under the Bajaj group.

( With inputs from ANI )