NEW DELHI: Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd (IBHFL) on Wednesday reported a rise of 26 per cent in its net profit at Rs 602.4 crore for the third quarter ended December. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 478.1 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal 2014-15.

Total revenues of the firm in the quarter increased by 24.4 per cent to Rs 2,307.7 crore from Rs 1,854.6 crore in the year ago period, the company said in a BSE filing. Net interest income (NII), a key gauge of profitability, registered a healthy growth of 30.4 per cent at Rs 971.3 crore from Rs 745 crore.

The company also declared an interim dividend of Rs 9 per share (on the face value of Rs 2 per share) for the financial year 2015-16 at its board meeting held on Wednesday. It was the fourth interim dividend by the company. Talking about recent trends in the residential real estate industry, IBHFL said housing loans between Rs 15-75 lakh continue to witness the most robust growth. Also, real estate developers are seeing strong pick-up in sales, it said, adding that in the commercial realty segment, office space vacancy is at a five-year low and has slipped to between 8-13 per cent in metros. However, it said leasing activity is the most in suburban and peripheral localities, which coincides with availability of affordability housing. — PTI