HDFC shares decline 2% on report of Rs 1,730-crore block deal

Shares of Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) Ltd on Tuesday witnessed a series of block deals on Tuesday, in which around 71 lakh shares of the lender changed hands, CNBC TV reported. Details of the buyers and sellers were not available.

The deal value was worth Rs 1,730 crore, according to a TV report. At 9.24am, the scrip was trading at Rs 2,386 on the BSE, down 2.1 percent from its previous close.

The stock is under pressure from the last few months even as various economic indicators show improvements, including the real estate sector. Recently Bajaj FInance's market cap briefly crossed that of HDFC earlier this week.

HDFC’s December quarter performance was mixed with individual assets under management growing 16 percent, but net interest income growth of 2 percent year-on-year was muted due to a high base and higher reserve requirement. HDFC’s asset quality metrics slipped in the third quarter with the lender reporting an increase of 20 basis points in its Stage 3 assets (non-performing loans). These loans stood at 2.7 percent of the total portfolio.

"We cut FY23/24CL estimates by 4-5 percent mainly due to the margin miss and tougher outlook for incremental mortgage spreads. While the turning rate cycle bodes very well for HDFC Limited’s growth outlook and with recent underperformance valuations is undemanding, the best of margins is behind. We prefer large private banks (ICICI/SBI/Axis) over HDFC Limited," CLSA said in a report.