L&T Finance Holdings Ltd (LTFH) on Thursday reported a 52 percent jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 265 crore for the quarter ended September mainly on the back of strong revival in rural economy. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 174 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2019-20.

Total income for the said quarter fell to Rs 3,508.91 crore as against Rs 3,711.85 crore in the year-ago period. Interest income was down at Rs 3,281.56 crore from Rs 3,294.38 crore, LTFH said in a regulatory filing.

LTFH said it witnessed an excellent revival in the rural and renewable sector and it gained market share to become the number one farm equipment financier during the quarter.

There is a significant business momentum in farm equipment, two-wheeler and renewable finance as well as moderate pick-up of disbursements in micro and home loan, it said. ”As anticipated, Q2 saw a revival in the rural economy, which we believe will also drive the economic growth of the country for the next few quarters. In Q2, our rural business witnessed significant growth momentum backed by our market-leading position and strong digital and data analytics infrastructure for the lending business.

”The performance was also boosted by excellent pick up in disbursements in our renewable energy portfolio,” said Dinanath Dubhashi, Managing Director & CEO, LTFH. AAA-rated NBFCs like LTFH are seeing a gradual easing out of liquidity conditions and the focus now would be to reduce excess liquidity and bring down the cost of borrowing, he said.

With an ample liquidity position of Rs 17,449 crore as of September 30, 2020, LTFH said it will focus on reducing excess liquidity and cost of borrowing. LTFH stock closed at Rs 64.35 apiece on BSE, up 1.98 percent over the previous close.