Muthoot Finance September Quarter Net Down 19 Per Cent

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

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

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

He, however, added that in the second half of the fiscal year, 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.

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 year, it has raised around Rs 900 crore.