India's Bajaj Finance Expects 22%-23% Profit Growth In Next Fiscal

By Nishit Navin and Siddhi Nayak

 (Reuters) - India's Bajaj Finance posted a rise in third-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by strong loan growth during the holiday season, and said it expected a profit growth of 22%-23% in the fiscal year ending March 2026.

The company expects 25% balance sheet growth next fiscal year, assuming stable conditions, and maintained a long-term outlook of 25%-27% growth in assets under management and 23%-24% profit growth, without specifying a timeline.

Earlier in the day, the non-banking financial company reported a consolidated net profit of 43.08 billion rupees ($497.84 million) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up around 18% from a year ago.

Indians celebrate a string of festivals during the October-December period, spending heavily on items ranging from apparel to electronics, which prop up demand for credit.

Bajaj Finance's net interest income grew 23% to 93.82 billion rupees in the December-quarter, while its assets under management grew about 28% to 3.98 trillion rupees.

Indian lenders have been grappling with asset quality stress led by unsecured segments such as credit cards and personal loans.

The company's provisions, or money set aside to cover potential bad loans, grew 64% to 20.43 billion rupees. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, provisions rose 7%.

Bajaj Finance said that its loan losses have stabilised.

The non-banking lender does not see itself transitioning into a bank in the near future, Managing Director Rajeev Jain said in a conference call.

"You should expect business as usual for the short to medium term," he added.

($1 = 86.5330 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Vijay Kishore)