mumbai lic housing finance has reported a net profit of rs 2342 crore for the quarter ended september 2010 an increase of 37 over rs 171 crore in the corresponding quarter last year profits were driven by healthy growth in loan book coupled with a leash on expenditure according to a statement issued by the company loans disbursed during the quarter rose 36 to rs 5101 crore while sanctions jumped 43 to rs 7667 crore following the increase in interest income net interest margins for the second quarter improved to 293 compared with 244 in the same period of the previous year sequentially there has been a slowdown in sanction growth the first quarter of the current fiscal had seen home loans sanctions grow 51 the company said it is yet to receive the proceeds of sale of shares of lic mutual fund sold to nomura asset management strategic investment lichf is due to realise rs 1384 crore from the sale the transaction is pending procedural requirements a statement said sources said the money was likely to come in during the second half of the current fiscal according to a report by kotak securities strong retail demand for housing is the key growth driver for lic housing finance the companys asset quality has also improved sequentially the outstanding mortgage portfolio as on september 30 2010 was rs 43385 crore against rs 31890 crore on september 30 2009 thus registering a growth of 36 gross npa of the company stood at 074 rs 31959 crore on september 30 2010 against 128 rs 40855 crore in the september 2009 quarter net npas were 021 rs 9016 crore against 062 rs 19825 crore for the corresponding dates in a statement issued here on thursday lic housing finance managing director rr nair said the year continues to be good on all the operational matrices and we are confident of maintaining the good performance