Capital First net profit zooms 278 per cent on loan growth

SME focussed non-banking finance company Capital First reported a 278 per cent rise in net profit today at Rs 27 crore in the September quarter as against Rs 7.16 crore a year ago on account higher loan growth.
The growth in income was primarily driven by higher NII and fee income, which together grew 51 per cent to 154.84 crore, from Rs 102.40 crore a year ago, Capital First Chairman V Vaidyanathan said.
Its net interest margin rose a notch to 5.9 per cent from 5.8 per cent on improved advances. The company's average lending rates are around 16 per cent.

Advances, which are primarily targeted at traders, merchants and small manufacturing units, rose by 34 per cent to Rs 11,047 crore from Rs 8,244 crore.
Vaidyanathan said that the company's retail finance portfolio rose to 84 per cent of its overall assets from 79 per cent, a year ago.
On the asset quality side, its gross NPAs increased to 0.56 per cent from 0.41 per cent, while net NPAs improved to 0.01 per cent from 0.17 per cent, he said, adding that capital adequacy stood at 21 per cent.
Commenting on results, Vaidyanathan said, "Sentiment has significantly heightened since the start of this financial year. We are very bullish on our growth prospects in the MSME financing sector which has a direct play on the Indian economy".

The company which also offers home loans, two-wheeler loans and durable loans to entry and mid-level salaried employees had over a million customers as on the reporting quarter.