Fullerton India's FY12 net profit swells

Showing signs of consolidation, Fullerton India Credit posted multi-fold growth in net profit to Rs 49.8 crore for 2011-12 as against a mere Rs 2.6 crore in FY11.

The Temasek-owned finance company had revised its business strategy, with increased focus on secured asset classes, tight credit norms for unsecured lending and rationalised branch network. “These steps have helped us improve financial performance,” Shantanu Mitra, its chief executive and managing director, said on Wednesday.

Hit hard by economic slowdown in India due to global financial crisis in 2008, Fullerton, which had a significant loan book of unsecured credit like personal loans, had booked a huge loss of Rs 717.1 crore in 2009-10.

Though the economy slowed down in FY12, the focus on rural markets, SMEs and small transporters helped grow its business. The asset book size was about Rs 4,000 crore, a 25 per cent rise over the last financial year.

Its total income for the year to March 2012 rose to Rs 931.89 crore. The total income had shrunk to Rs 880.61 crore in 2010-11 from Rs 935.55 crore in 2009-10. It was adequately capitalised with a capital adequacy is of 18.9 per cent against 20.43 per cent at end of March 2011.

Fullerton India Credit Company Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore's Fullerton Financial Holdings, which is a subsidiary of Temasek Holding, also in the Southeast Asian city-state.