Edelweiss home fin biz to start by Sept

Financial services firm Edelweiss Capital Ltd said on Friday it plans an equity investment of over Rs 100 crore in its housing finance business in FY11, a top official said.

The firm plans to start its housing finance business in the next couple of months, Chairman Rashesh Shah told reporters in a conference call after the results.

In March, a unit of Edelweiss got a registration certificate from National Housing Bank to start housing finance business.

Besides, it expects its life insurance venture with Japan's Tokio Marine Holdings to start operations by March, Shah said.

The partners plan to invest a total of Rs 550 crore as initial capital in the venture and have applied to the insurance regulator for in-principle approval, Shah had told Reuters in May.

Earlier the company posted a 17% rise in consolidated net profit for the quarter-ended June to nearly Rs 61.4 crore led by its investment banking business.

The firm's investment banking division has a strong pipeline of IPOs and its advisory division was also performing well, Shah said.

"Investment banking and advisory did good business this quarter. Our treasury and bank deposit business continued to suffer," Shah said.

"In investment banking, we are seeing QIPs are slowing down, IPO is seeing a lot of momentum," he added.

Shares of Edelweiss traded 2.7% down at Rs 489.9 in a weak Mumbai market.