Sundaram Home Finance Ltd. (SHFL) registered a 16% increase in standalone net profit to ₹66 crore for the June quarter over the year-earlier period, driven by market expansion in smaller towns and additional business from new branches.

Disbursements increased 24% to ₹1,353 crore. Managed assets under management rose to ₹14,533 crore from ₹11,699 crore, the wholly owned subsidiary of Sundaram Finance said in a statement.

“We will look for newer opportunities in Tier 3 and 4 towns while we continue to strengthen our presence in the southern markets and in Tier 2 towns. We are also in the process of steadily increasing our presence in select geographies outside south India,” said Managing Director D. Lakshminarayanan.

In Q1, SHFL unveiled a new segment ‘Emerging Business’, comprising affordable housing financing and loans to small businesses. The company now plans to add 20 more branches and hire 200 people in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

On the prospects of the newly launched affordable housing financing business, he said that this new segment, combined with small business loans, was expected to record a faster pace of growth in the medium term.