Public sector Repco Home Finance (RHFL), majority owned by Repco Bank, has posted nearly 74 per cent jump in its net profit for fiscal year 2009, beating the economic slowdown and credit crunch.

RHFL, which started in 2002, is focused on lending for affordable housing in tier-II and tier-III cities targeting the lower and middle-income segment.

The company, in which US private equity firm Carlyle Group has a 49 per cent stake, posted a net profit of Rs 27.06 crore for fiscal year 2009, when compared with Rs 15.57 crore in fiscal year 2008.

In fiscal year 2009, the lender approved loans worth Rs 473 crore, reflecting a 60 per cent jump from Rs 295 core in the same period of the previous year, while disbursals grew 55 per cent to Rs 428 crore.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at 0.95 per cent as of March 2009, versus 1.26 per cent last year. In January, RHFL had cut its lending rates for fresh loans by 150 basis points (bps). Earlier this month, the company cut its lending rates by 50 bps for all existing customers who were sanctioned home loans before February 2009.

Last week, Reserve Bank of India unexpectedly cut its key interest rates to a record low, after forecasting the economy will expand at the slowest pace since 2003.

The central bank had cut its repo rate, the rate at which it infuses cash into the banking system, by 25 bps to 4.75 per cent, and the reverse repo rate, at which it absorbs excess cash from banks, was reduced to 3.25 per cent from 3.50 per cent.

Looking ahead, RHFL eyes a 56 per cent growth in its portfolio in fiscal year 2010, banking on its clientele in tier-I and tier-II cities. It also plans to expand its businesses in nine new locations this fiscal year, including the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharastra.