Muthoot Finance FY14 Net Profit Drops 22%

Gold loan company Muthoot Finance today reported a 22 per cent dip in its net profit at Rs 780 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2014.

During the previous fiscal, the company had registered a profit of Rs 1,004 crore. The company has also reported a 6.7 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 181 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014, as against Rs 194 crore in the same period a year ago.

Commenting on the results, company chairman M G George Muthoot said it was a turbulent year for the company due to adverse regulatory environment, fluctuation in gold prices and economic slowdown.

The retail loan assets under management in the fiscal was Rs 21,862 crore as against Rs 26,387 in the previous fiscal, a 17 per cent fall.

The company is planning to open about 1,000 ATMs by March 2015 and 2,000 by March 2016, he added.

There are also plans to aggressively chase customers, Muthoot said adding currently, the company has a customer base of six million and is looking at a 20-25 per cent growth this fiscal.

Muthoot has already paid interim dividend of 50 per cent and has recommended a final dividend of 10 per cent, aggregating to 60 per cent dividend for the full year.