Bajaj Finance on Tuesday reported a 20 per cent drop in standalone March-quarter net profits on higher impairment charges.

The non-banking finance company (NBFC) posted a net profit of Rs 891. 57 crore compared with Rs 1,113.59 crore in the same period of the previous year.

This came after impairment charges rose to Rs 1,865.17 crore compared with Rs 400.71 crore in the year-ago period.

Bajaj Finance said in its notes to accounts that while it has provided a three-month moratorium on EMIs to its customers, it has used early indicators of moratorium and delayed payment metrics along with estimation of potential stress on probability of default because of Covid-19 in assessing the impairment loss allowance on loans.

Bajaj Finance disclosed that it has recognised an additional impairment on loans of Rs 850 crore during the quarter.

During the quarter, consolidated assets under management (AUM) rose to Rs 1.47 lakh crore compared with Rs 1.16 lakh crore in the year ago period — a growth of 27 per cent. Its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at 1.61 per cent.

Moody’s on Vedanta

Vedanta Resources’ proposal to take its India-listed subsidiary Vedanta private will give it access to cash surpluses in the oil and gas business unit, Moody’s Investors Service said Tuesday.

Vedanta Resources, which owns 50.1 per cent of Vedanta Ltd, has offered to acquire the 49.9 per cent shareholding held by the public and delist the company from the BSE.