DHFL defaults on Rs 8.07 crore bond repayments, shares fall over 5%

The 35-year-old housing finance company, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), that finds itself in the middle of a liquidity crisis, has again defaulted on bond repayments worth Rs 8.07 crore, as per company's regulatory filing submitted yesterday after trading hours.

The cash strapped-housing finance company informed the exchanges about defaulting interest payment on '8.84% secured non-convertible debenture (NCD) for 3 years' with a total default to the tune of Rs 8.07 crore and said that it was taking all necessary steps to repay the debt within 7 days of the cure period. The total amount of securities issued were of the face value of Rs 6.30 crore.

The stock of DHFL has fallen 5.22% to the day's low of Rs 53.60, against the previous day's closing of Rs 56.55 on BSE. Today's intraday low of Rs 53.60 is a mere 9 points away from the stock's 52-week low of Rs 44, recorded on July 16, 2019.

The DHFL stock has fallen over 91% in the last one year period, nearly 77% year-to-date on both the bourses, respectively.  

"The Company is in discussions with its bankers for restructuring its liabilities and is working on a resolution plan to be submitted to the lenders", the disclosure added.

"The penalty levied by NHB is in the normal course of business of the company and shall have no impact on any business or other activities of the company," DHFL said.

DHFL has been undergoing substantial financial stress since September last year, as it began its journey downhill resulting from a repayment default by IL&FS. DHFL's stock price nosedived to Rs 55 on July 25 from a 52-week high of Rs 691.50 on September 3, 2018.

DHFL, that was once the second-largest private-sector HFC after HDFC, reported default on June 4, 2019, when the company was unable to repay Rs 1,100 crore in interest payments for commercial papers worth Rs 850 crore.

Later on June 26, it defaulted on commercial papers, paying only Rs 150 crore (40%) out of the Rs 375 crore due."The company is already in the process of selling down its loan assets including wholesale project loans to make good all its obligations and maintain its 100% commitment to all its creditors as it has done since the liquidity crisis started in September 2018," DHFL had said then. Moreover, the crisis-hit company has been selling off its non-core assets to meet financial obligations.   

The stock price of DHFL closed at Rs 55.15 on BSE and at Rs 55.20 on NSE, respectively. Overall, 39.67 lakh shares and 373.75 lakh shares changed hands on BSE and NSE in the last hour of trade.

Edited by Rupa Burman Roy

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