Muthoot Finance Net dips 19% at Rs 171 crore on lower loan growth

MUMBAI: Gold loan finance major Muthoot Finance today reported a 19 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 171 crore in the July-September quarter on account of lower asset growth.

Total retail asset under management stood at Rs 21,800 crore in the three months to September from Rs 26,000 crore in the year-ago period.

When contacted, the Managing Director of the largest pure-play gold loan financier, George Alexander Muthoot, said, "Profit declined as our asset under management had fallen in the period."

However, Muthoot said in the second half of the fiscal, the company expects the AUM to grow by 10-15 per cent.

"We expect profitability to improve along with the increase in the loan portfolio," he said.

The total income from operations of the Kochi-based company stood at Rs 1,058 crore as against Rs 1,295 crore in the same period last year.

The company maintained a higher standard asset provisioning of 0.46 per cent in the quarter as against regulatory requirement of 0.25 per cent.

The company's gold loan outstanding in the first half was Rs 21,697 crore as against Rs 24,051 crore in the same period last year.

The company is planning to raise Rs 400 crore this month by way of issuance of bonds. So far in this fiscal, it has raised around Rs 900 crore.