Muthoot Finance FY14 Net profit drops 22% to Rs 780 cr

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 has plans to restructure itself to strengthen its sales and HR teams to improve business within a year, he said adding that regional offices would be strengthened and 300-500 more branches would be opened.

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.

Managing Director George Alexander Muthoot said the company was devoting time to rebuild the business and would focus on achieving the march 2013 loan portfolio of Rs 26,000 crore in the next couple of quarters.
"Our strong presence in borrower segments like small and medium enterprises, agriculture sector, traders, road transport operators - constituting over 70 per cent of the loan portfolio - could be a strong enabler for achieving this target," he said.
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.

Executive Director K Padmakumar said Muthoot was aiming to chase customers. Last year, Muthoot could open only 200 odd branches and so geographic expansion in unbanked areas was affected.