HDFC shares leap by 8 percent

Bangalore: Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) finished among the top gainers in the markets at the close of trade, after its stock price went up by almost eight percent. Starting the day at Rs 2380, the stock went up by 7.74 percent to end at 2586.25. The stock had touched an intra-day high of Rs 2599 and a total of 2,68,530 HDFC shares were traded through the day. The 52 week stock price chart of HDFC
is on the left

HDFC provides housing finance to its customers and its distribution network spans 250 outlets, which includes 52 offices of the wholly owned distribution company, HDFC Sales. According to HDFC, demand for housing has picked up substantially compared to what was witnessed in the last quarter of 2008. Loan approvals in June have exceeded the May numbers of the institution. HDFC is also expected to maintain growth in net profit for the current financial year at 20 percent. In the previous financial year, HDFC reported a profit of Rs 2,268 crore, up 24 percent from the previous fiscal. The lender's approvals were at Rs 49,166 crore while disbursals amounted to Rs 39,650 crore in 2008-09.

Totally 27 analysts follow HDFC with a consensus recommendation of outperform, eight analysts recommend to buy the stock and six recommend to hold the stock. Reliance Vision Fund holds the highest number of shares in HDFC, with a total of 4,42,758 shares.