DHFL Defers Release Of Financial Results

Crippled mortgage lender Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd., whose board has been superseded by the Reserve Bank of India, on Friday informed stock exchanges that it will not be able to declare financial results on the scheduled date as the new administrator needs to have detailed discussions with the statutory auditors.

DHFL was scheduled to announce its financial result on Nov. 25.

Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank of India constituted a three-member panel to advise its administrator, R Subramaniakumar, former managing director of the state-run Indian Overseas Bank, to help recover nearly Rs 84,000 crore that the troubled company owes.

The RBI had on Wednesday used the recent changes in the laws to supersede the board of DHFL, announced to resolve the issue under the provisions of the bankruptcy code and appointed the administrator.

“The Administrator needs to have detailed discussions with the statutory auditors of the Company for the purpose of finalisation of the financial results,” DHFL said in a regulatory filing.

The administrator and advisory committee will require some time to formulate the working modalities.

“Please note that considering the above factors, as directed by the Administrator, the aforesaid scheduled date of declaration of the financial results i.e. Nov. 25, 2019 is hereby postponed and the board meeting scheduled for such approval has also been deferred,” it said.

The revised date will be intimated in due course, it added.

As of July 2019, the home financier owed Rs 83,873 crore to banks, the National Housing Board, mutual funds and bondholders, including retail bondholders. Of this, secured debt is Rs 74,054 crore and Rs 9,818 crore is unsecured.

Most banks have or are going to declare DHFL account as NPA in the third quarter.

DHFL defaulted on its payment obligations in respect of bank and market borrowings, which reveals serious concerns about the conduct of the affairs of the company, the RBI said.

DHFL lenders were working on a resolution plan to pick up 51 percent in the company by converting a part of their debt into equity. But the plan was yet to be formally cleared.