Mahindra Finance seeks 3 pc dip in post-tax profit in March Q

Mahindra Finance today reported a marginal 3 per cent dip in post-tax profit for the March quarter at Rs 336.51 crore, from Rs 346.36 crore a year ago.
Managing director Ramesh Iyer said last fiscal's number included a one-off gain of Rs 64.26 crore through the sale of investment in its insurance broking subsidiary.
"You should rather see the profit before tax component," he said. The company's profit before tax was up 18 per cent at Rs 469 crore, including an excess provision of Rs 36 crore.
For the reporting quarter, total income from operations grew to Rs 1,360.20 crore as against the Rs 1,110.29 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Iyer said that there has been an increase in the cash flows from its key markets in the south and others like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, which is helping improve its NPA position.
Gross non-performing loans ratio has come down to 4.4 per cent from the 4.8 per cent in December 2013. Iyer said that it would narrow down further during the fiscal.

He said the GNPA ratio spiked to 4.8 per cent from the 3 per cent in March 2013.
For the full fiscal, the company's net profit climbed up to Rs 954.42 crore from the Rs 927.03 crore in the previous fiscal.

The company scrip ended flat at Rs 245 a piece on the BSE, whose 30-share benchmark ended the session with a 0.52 per cent gain.